Notre Dame QB Rees Charged In Altercation With Police
UPDATED 05/03/12 - 6:25 p.m.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) -- Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees has been charged with four misdemeanors, following a confrontation with police early Thursday morning.
Rees allegedly raised his knee and knocked the wind out of a police officer following an off-campus house party early Thursday.
The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office says the 19-year-old Rees was charged with one count of battery, two counts of resisting law enforcement and one count of illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor. Police had filed a preliminary charge of felony battery on a police officer, which would have required him to stay in jail until being arraigned before a judge.
Rees was released on a $250 cash bond.
Prosecutors said they were still reviewing a preliminary misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct against linebacker Carlo Calabrese.
Rees and Calabrese were arrested following a confrontation with St. Joseph County, Ind., police officers early Thursday morning.
LISTEN: South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent breaks down the details
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St. Joseph County police Sgt. Bill Redman tells CBS affiliate WSBT-TV, South Bend, that Rees and Calabrese were booked into the St. Joseph County Jail, just after midnight Chicago time.
They were arrested by South Bend police at a home in the 700 block of North Notre Dame Avenue in South Bend, South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent told WBBM Newsradio's Josh Liss.
"There was apparently a large, loud party going out in the back yard. When we get there, our officers approached the backyard area, at which point they hear the fence behind the house cracking, as if somebody was jumping the fence and trying to break through it to flee," Trent said.
The officers found five young men standing in the back of the home, but they all ran off. The officers chased them, and soon caught up with the group, whom Rees was among.
"They apprehend him in the middle of the street. He actively resisted our officers; tried to pull himself away, threw up a knee. He hit one of the officers in the midsection with his knee, and then they both went down to the ground. The officer received some minor abrasions to his arm," Trent said.
At that point, Rees was pepper-sprayed and arrested. But he continued to resist until he was finally arrested.
He was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.11, above the legal limit.
As Rees was being arrested, Calabrese attempted to intervene, "walked into the street, confronted one of the officers, made a threat to one of the officers," Trent said. After being pulled back into a group of students and breaking free, he made another threat and was also arrested, Trent said.
Rees, 19, a native of the North Shore suburb of Lake Forest, could faces charges of public intoxication, resisting law enforcement, minor consumption of alcohol, and felony battery to law enforcement, WSBT reported.
Calabrese was charged with disorderly conduct and released on $150 bond, but Rees remained in custody.
Rees started in 12 of 13 games for the Fighting Irish last season. He is one of four Notre Dame quarterbacks competing for a starting position this year.
Notre Dame said in the statement to WSBT that it was aware of the incident and "is confident that it will be handled in a prompt and professional manner through the criminal justice system." Any possible disciplinary measures from the university will be handled privately, Notre Dame tells WSBT.
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