Two more UVa players arrested

By Rachana Dixit
Media General News Service
Published: July 29, 2008

Authorities said two University of Virginia football players were arrested during the wee hours Saturday at a downtown Charlottesville nightclub.

Junior offensive lineman Will Barker and redshirt freshman lineman Dave Roberts were picked up at Club 216 on Water Street at 3:45 a.m. Saturday.

Both face larceny charges. According to a police report, club security manager Rod Howard saw the two men reach behind the club’s back bar and take two beers each.

Roberts, 19, is additionally being charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol and with using a fake ID.

Barker, 21, is expected to be a starter on the offensive line after being named a second-team freshman all-American by the Sporting News in 2006.

In a statement, UVa head coach Al Groh said, “We do not have a comment other than to say the matter will be handled within the department and the team in accordance with the appropriate policy.”

The incident is the latest in a string of pains for the Cavaliers.

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 Jameel 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 appeared last week in Charlottesville General District Court, where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The case will be heard by a grand jury in August.

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.

UVa quarterback Peter Todd Lalich, 20, was charged July 13 with underage possession of alcohol. Lalich’s case was continued until July 21, 2009, after appearing in Charlottesville General District Court last week. If he stays out of trouble, the charges will be dropped at that point.

Ashley Crockett, a health educator for the Center of Alcohol and Substance Education and co-advisor of UVa’s Student Athlete Mentor program, said current topics are discussed to an extent during the group’s meetings. The program recruits at least two athletes from each team to educate their peers on alcohol and substance abuse prevention.

“Their primary role is to provide that peer-to-peer support,” said Crockett, referring to the program’s mentors.

Crockett said the mentors hold presentations for their respective teams on alcohol education. All athletes are educated on university and state policies regarding alcohol consumption.

“If students are going to partake in certain activities, we want them to have information so that they make healthy choices,” she said.