Chief investigator for the State Attorney's Office, Spencer Mann, revealed yesterday that the felony charges against Tony Joiner have officially been dropped.

Joiner was charged with burglary for retrieving his girlfriend's car from Watson's Towing impound lot, while it was being held overnight for $76.

Property manager Stan Forron explained that Joiner had arranged to pick up the car, and that when no one was around to receive the payment, Joiner figured he could settle the charges with the towing company later.

Perhaps Forron couldn't bear the responsibility of weakening the Gator team, especially after a rough loss against Auburn.

But according to the Tallahassee Democrat, Forron said that over the past twenty years, he has had as many as thirty cars removed from his lot in circumstances similar to Joiner's, and that in no case were those patrons arrested or charged with burglary.

Perhaps the Gainesville Police Department just wanted to capitalize on an opportunity to punish a member of the UF student body, a group with whom their relationship is typically shaky. In fact, some are surprised they didn't taser Joiner at the scene.

In any case, Mann explained: "The victim is adamant that he sustained no loss or damage and does not wish to pursue criminal charges... Without a victim, I have no crime."

This is good news for Gator fans, who feared the worst when Coach Urban Meyer announced that Joiner would not play in the LSU game if felony charges were sustained against him. However, the Gators were ready to send in Dorian Munroe at strong safety if a replacement was necessary.

Joiner has already been stripped of his defensive captain status, as Coach Meyer felt that "being out late on Monday is not consistent with the expectations of a leader and a team captain of our football program."

Meyer was not available to specify if Joiner would be penalized with less playing time, but he did say that Joiner will "pay a heavy price for his behavior."

Fortunately, however, it is clear that he will indeed travel with the Gators to Baton Rouge.