Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly released a statement Saturday afternoon that 2020 cornerback recruit Landen Bartleson of Harrodsburg, Ky., will no longer be part of the Fighting Irish football program.
Bartleson was arrested and charged in connection with vehicle theft and burglary during an overnight crime spree earlier this week.
“After reviewing all of the facts available to us and speaking with the Bartleson family, we informed them that Landen will no longer be welcomed as a member of our football program,” Kelly said. “This incident is very much out of character for the man we have come to know and we wish Landen and his family well.”
Bartleson was one of three teen-agers accused on Friday of breaking into a nearby business and stealing multiple guns.
The break-in occurred overnight, and in the ensuing investigation the 18-year-old Bartleson was identified with two 16-year-old juveniles before taken into police custody.
There also was an investigation of a vehicle theft on Centre College’s campus — about 2.5 miles from where the robbery occurred — that was linked to the burglary. When the vehicle was eventually recovered, nine guns from the theft were found inside.
The suspects face charges of burglary, criminal mischief and receiving stolen property.
Ranked the No. 39 cornerback prospect, the three-star recruit Bartleson was one of four cornerbacks signed in Notre Dame’s 18-man 2020 class back in December. Two of them, Ramon Henderson and Caleb Offord, enrolled as early entrants this January.
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