Former Gator Quinton Dunbar, Giants’ Deandre Baker wanted in South Florida armed robbery

Former Florida Gators wide receiver Quinton Dunbar and New York Giants cornerback Deandre Baker are wanted on multiple counts of felony armed robbery (and, in Baker’s case, aggravated assault with a firearm) for an alleged robbery of a party in South Florida on Wednesday, according to arrest warrants from the Miramar Police Department.

According to the warrants, Baker, Dunbar, and a third man wearing a red mask and possibly named “Shy” were at a party in Miramar on Wednesday night, and caused a commotion by interrupting a card game with an argument that then turned into Baker brandishing a gun and directing Dunbar and the other man to take valuables — including watches valued into the tens of thousand of dollars — and cash from other party attendees.

Multiple victims and a witness allege that Baker directed the man in the mask to shoot another attendee, and there seems a consensus in the warrants that Baker was armed; witnesses gave conflicting reports on whether Dunbar was armed, however, though one did say he saw and heard Dunbar directing others to take valuables.

The three assailants then allegedly made their escape via luxury vehicles — a Mercedes-Benz, a Lamborghini, and a BMW — that witnesses say were “pre-positioned” to facilitate a swift departure.

Police attempts to contact Baker and Dunbar were unsuccessful.

The motive for multiple NFL players to commit armed robbery would seem difficult to understand, but a detail buried deep in the police report may be telling: One victim says he met Baker and Dunbar a couple of days prior to the incident at a different party in Miami at which the players lost about $70,000. A report from TMZ cites sources saying that that money was lost — TMZ uses scare quotes to render it “lost” — in high-stakes card games and in other gambling.

Dunbar finished his fifth NFL season in 2019 on injured reserve and on his way out of Washington, D.C., where he became a formidable cornerback for the Burgundy and Gold after going undrafted as a wide receiver in 2015, and to Washington State, where he was set to play for the Seattle Seahawks in 2020 after being traded to the Pacific Northwest for a fifth-round pick.

Baker had an up-and-down rookie season with the Giants, largely not living up to his status as a first-round pick in 2019.

The NFL, Seahawks, and Giants all issued statements — of the “We are aware” variety — on the matter late Thursday.

While Dunbar and Baker — a Georgia Bulldogs standout — attended rival college programs, they both grew up in the South Florida football family, with Dunbar graduating from Booker T. Washington High School and Baker graduating from fellow powerhouse Miami Northwestern.