Cavalier quarterback charged with underage alcohol possession

By Brian McNeill
Media General News Service

Published: July 25, 2008

A quarterback with the University of Virginia football team has been charged with underage possession of alcohol, marking the latest in a string of headaches for the Cavaliers.

Peter Todd Lalich, 20, was issued a summons in the early hours of July 13 at the corner of 13th and Wertland streets.

“Mr. Lalich was observed with an open container of beer,” said Jennifer T. Farinholt, a spokeswoman for Virginia’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. “Due to his youthful appearance, he was questioned and identified as being underage.”

Lalich appeared Monday in Charlottesville General District Court. His case was continued until July 21, 2009. If he stays out of trouble, the charges will be dropped at that point, according to published reports.

A Charlottesville prosecutor did not return a call for comment Wednesday.
Lalich also did not immediately return a message.

Lalich shared the Cavaliers’ quarterback duties with Jameel Sewell during the 2007-08 football season. Lalich is one of the team’s possible starting quarterbacks for the upcoming season.

Through a spokesman, UVa coach Al Groh declined to say if Lalich’s troubles will affect his standing on the football squad.
“Coach Groh will not comment regarding this matter, other than to say that any disciplinary matter will be handled internally with the team,” said Jim Daves, UVa’s assistant athletics director for media relations.

The Cavaliers have had a tumultuous time during the first half of 2008.
In January, the team announced that four of its players — including two starters — were no longer enrolled at UVa. Sources at the time told The Daily Progress that academic reasons were behind the dismissals. The four were sophomore quarterback Sewell, junior cornerback Chris Cook, redshirt freshman wide receiver Chris Dalton and redshirt freshman linebacker Darnell Carter.

The next month, cornerback Mike Brown was arrested and accused of stealing stereo equipment and trying to sell it on eBay. Brown is scheduled to appear in Charlottesville General District Court today.
In April, redshirt freshman J’Courtney Rydell Williams was arrested on a credit card theft charge. He pleaded guilty in May, receiving a sentence of four days in jail. Groh removed him from the team shortly after his arrest.

On the Sabre, an online UVa sports message board, most Cavalier fans seemed to take the news about Lalich in stride.

“Little stuff like this happens on every football team in the country and goes by the wayside,” wrote one fan. “Here it is made into a big deal. A popular college QB, who is one year from being 21 got caught drinking — not driving but just drinking. Oh the humanity!”