Georgia Tech Footballers Suspended for Hitting Woman

Two of three Georgia Tech football players arrested after a female student was beaten in a restaurant have been disciplined by the team, but the young woman’s family has criticized the penalties as too lenient.

Tech football coach Bobby Ross placed offensive lineman Mike Mooney, reserve guard Jim Lavin and reserve linebacker Kevin Salisbury on indefinite suspension Thursday. They cannot play under their current status, but they will be allowed at spring practice and could be reinstated before the football season, Ross said.

Salisbury will not be disciplined by the school itself until his court case is settled; he still faces aggravated battery charges in Superior Court.

Mooney was placed on indefinite disciplinary probation by the school, and would not be eligible for games. But he can participate in workouts, and the probation “could be lifted before next season,” said Tech Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Dull.

Lavin faces no restrictions from the school.

“I can’t believe that Tech would not take stronger action than that,” said John Steffee, father of Lisa Steffee, the injured student. “It kind of looks like they are sweeping it under the rug.”

“I think for the circumstances, this is a just penalty for these guys,” Dull said. “We don’t go the harshness kind of a route.”

According to police reports, Salisbury and Mooney assaulted Steffee at a pizza restaurant near campus on Jan. 18, breaking her nose and detaching part of a nostril. Salisbury faces three counts of simple battery, disorderly conduct and criminal property damage.

Mooney has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer; Lavin pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Both were fined.