Jump to content

USC (Cocks variety) QB busted for being drunk & running from cops

Tiger in Spain

By Tiger in Spain
in Rivals Football

Recommended Posts

Tiger in Spain Founding Father

Tiger in Spain 0

Posted
Posted
Touted recruit arrested

Stephen Garcia charged with drunkeness, failure to stop after Five Points party

USC freshman quarterback and star recruit Stephen Garcia was arrested in Five Points early Saturday — one month after arriving on campus and before he ever stepped onto a practice field.

He was involved in an altercation around 12:40 a.m. Saturday outside the Knock Knock club on Harden Street and fled when a police officer approached him, according to an incident report from the Columbia Police Department.

Garcia, whose 19th birthday was Thursday, was arrested and charged with drunkenness and failure to stop on police command.

He was charged for drunkenness based on evidence at the scene; a Breathalyzer test was not administered, police spokeswoman Lauren Leach said.

Garcia was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where he spent the night and was ordered released on a personal recognizance bond, which meant he does not have to pay the $465 fine for the drunkeness charge. Garcia will appear in court on Washington Street at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Garcia, wearing a blue detention center jumpsuit, told Assistant City Judge James Guignard he had never been arrested in his home state of Florida or South Carolina.

His attorney, Tish Alleyne, and several family friends declined comment afterward.

It’s the second time a USC quarterback has tangled with the law in less than six months. USC quarterback Blake Mitchell was arrested Sept. 13 after allegedly punching a bouncer at a Five Points bar, but the charge was later dropped.

A “concerned citizen” alerted an officer that Garcia was involved in an altercation behind the Knock Knock club, where he had been attending a private party, the police report said.

According to the report, the officer approached Garcia, but the Florida native quickly walked away. The officer asked him to stop, but Garcia ran and tried to hide in an alley.

When the officer caught up to him, Garcia turned toward the officer “in a threatening manner,” and the officer immediately “engaged his baton.” The officer did not need to use his baton to complete the arrest.

Garcia tried to zip up his pants and fix his belt, and he smelled of alcohol. “He was unsteady on his feet and had slurred speech,” the report said.

Knock Knock owner Scott Linaberry told The State that Garcia was on the guest list for the private party — a birthday party for a professional soccer player from England.

Linaberry said the soccer player, whose name he could not recall, has friends in Columbia and celebrated his birthday here last year, enjoyed it, and came back for a repeat event.

Linaberry didn’t observe the altercation and arrest, but heard that Garcia went outside behind the club with some friends.

“They were roughhousing or something out back. They were out back doing jock guy stuff,” said Linaberry, who didn’t know if any other USC football players had attended the party. When the police officer approached the group, “everybody stayed there and (Garcia) just took off,” Linaberry said.

SLED spokeswoman Mary Perry said SLED and the Columbia Police Department partnered in a joint operation Friday night in Five Points targeting underage drinkers and businesses that provide alcohol to them. It’s unclear if Garcia’s arrest is related to the Five Points operation, Leach said.

About 120 people attended the Knock Knock party, which was open to ages 18 and up, Linaberry said. Bouncers marked the hands of patrons under 21 and they were not served alcohol, he said.

“(Garcia) was marked underage if he was in here,” Linaberry said. A small black X was visible on the back of Garcia’s left hand at the bond hearing.

Garcia is considered the highest-profile player recruited thus far by USC coach Steve Spurrier. The quarterback from Thomas Jefferson High in Tampa, Fla. was rated the No. 7 quarterback in the country coming out of high school. He concluded his prep career ranked third in Florida history in passing yards, sixth in touchdowns, fourth in pass attempts and tied for third in completions.

The son of a Smith-Barney stockbroker, Garcia reported a high school GPA of 3.64 in November. Attempts to reach his parents at their Lutz, Fla., home were unsuccessful Saturday.

Garcia started classes at USC Jan. 16 after announcing his commitment to the Gamecocks in December. At that time, Garcia said he intended to graduate in the winter so he could be in Columbia to get ready for the 2007 season.

USC media relations director Steve Fink said he is uncertain of Garcia’s status with the team. Attempts to reach Spurrier for comment Saturday were unsuccessful.

Link w/ very Allman Brothers type mugshot

Link to comment
Share on other sites




AUloggerhead Founding Father

AUloggerhead 2,255

Posted
Posted

What a dumb-a! Spurrier isn't one to hand out ice-cream cones. He's said repeatedly that his one rule is that "if you embarrass the University, you're gone." It will be interesting to see how he handles this. Garcia was his primary target for QB recruit. SOS invested a lot of time & energy in recruiting him out of Tampa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
autigeremt Founding Father

autigeremt 6,719

Posted
Posted

SOS will spank him on the hand.......and he be punished in a season that he would have redshirted anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TigerDad Community Regular

TigerDad 0

Posted
Posted

busted a second time this morning reported by local tv news in Charleston-This time for keying sp? a car and has been suspended from the team for a second time before even playing a game! Sorry no link yet but will have his second mug shot up as soon as it is available or do they just use the one on file?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ssgaufan Proficient

ssgaufan 0

Posted
Posted

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2789408

Here's the link for his second arrest. Looks like the ole ball coach got himself a good one.

If he was going to redshirt this year anyway, does this "punishment" really affect him?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sogaaufan Mentor

sogaaufan 27

Posted
Posted

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2789408

Here's the link for his second arrest. Looks like the ole ball coach got himself a good one.

If he was going to redshirt this year anyway, does this "punishment" really affect him?

Suspending him doesn't hurt him, but who knows what kind of physical punishment he is going to have to go through. I would imagine he will become intimate with the stadium steps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...