Suspect in Moon Bar case gets probation for threat / LJWorld.com

Olathe — Jeremiah Creswell, the man who stabbed former Kansas University basketball player J.R. Giddens at a Lawrence night spot, was sentenced Tuesday to 24 months' probation for pulling a steak knife on his uncle and threatening to kill his mother.

The incident with his relatives happened June 12, almost a month after the fight that left Giddens and others cut and Creswell battered.

The Johnson County sentencing for Creswell's menacing behavior with family members was unrelated to the May 19 brawl outside the Moon Bar near Ninth and Iowa streets in Lawrence.

During that melee, five men, including Giddens, were stabbed. Creswell told police he acted in self-defense.

Douglas County Dist. Atty. Charles Branson last week charged Creswell with one count of misdemeanor battery stemming from the Moon Bar fight. Giddens was charged with misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct.

In lieu of arrests, both Creswell and Giddens were issued summonses to appear in Douglas County District Court on Sept. 21.

Giddens transferred to the University of New Mexico in July.

As part of the Johnson County probation, Creswell, 24, is prohibited from possessing a firearm, consuming alcohol, beer or illegal drugs, or having contact with his uncle.

Judge John P. Bennett agreed to let Creswell live with his mother, denying Assistant Dist. Atty. Jacqie Spradling's objection to the arrangement.

"She's the victim," Spradling said afterward. "I was trying to look out for her best interests. I would have preferred no contact until there was some level of comfort that whatever problem had, in fact, been fixed."

But Creswell's court-appointed attorney, David Magariel, assured the court Creswell and his mother had "mended fences" since the June 12 altercation and that his client "had nowhere else to go."

Bennett warned Creswell that having "violent contact" with his mother would constitute a violation of his parole and likely would result in his spending 27 months in prison.

Creswell's criminal record is known to include aggravated battery and possession of cocaine convictions in Shawnee County. His juvenile record includes an incident with a firearm.

He's spent the past 87 days in the Johnson County Adult Detention Facility, unable to post $50,000 bail.

Archive for Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Suspect in Moon Bar case gets probation for threat

Creswell sentenced for menacing behavior

Moon Bar fight

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