4 CSUF Football Players Charged With Misdemeanor Assault on Police Officer

Misdemeanor assault and battery charges were filed Monday against four Cal State Fullerton football players over an altercation with an off-duty police officer last month in which one player was shot, officials with the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

Harold Jones, Andrew Fears, Clarence Siler and Michael Pringle--who was recently drafted by the NFL Atlanta Falcons--will be directed to appear for an arraignment in a few weeks, Deputy Dist. Atty. Clyde Von der Ahe said.

Also charged is Denise Hernandez, who allegedly was fighting with another woman in the parking lot of the Carnivale Club in Fullerton on April 19 when the incident occurred.

Fullerton police have said off-duty Pasadena Police Officer Darin McBride was tackled and kicked in the head by five or six people, most of them football players, after he tried to break up the Hernandez fight.

In the course of the scuffle, McBride allegedly drew a .380-caliber pistol and fired three or four rounds, wounding Siler in the right shoulder.

None of the accused could be reached for comment.

McBride, contacted in Pasadena, said: “I’m glad the investigation turned up the truth about what happened. I have to withhold my comments until final disposition of the case because things could change, charges could be dropped. But hopefully the truth is going to come out.”

The Pasadena Police Department is conducting an investigation of McBride’s use of a firearm, said Sgt. Daniel Peterson, who is in charge of internal investigations for the department.

“This is a major incident,” Peterson said. “One of our off-duty officers was in an incident that involved a gun shooting. There’s a certain responsibility we have to look into it.”

Peterson said the investigation is a routine police procedure whenever an officer is involved in a shooting.

“The department has been great,” McBride said. “They have shown sincere concern about me and I appreciate it.”

If the five charged Monday are found guilty, they each could face up to six months in jail and $2,000 in fines, Von der Ahe said.

“You had an individual that was ganged up on by other individuals and beaten to an extent that he did suffer injuries,” Von der Ahe said. “It’s just something you don’t overlook. It was a violation of the law.”

But he also said the case did not warrant a stiffer charge.

“I just judged this case on its facts, on the incident and its injuries, and it only warranted a misdemeanor filing,” he said.

McBride, 22, who was a firefighter in Pasadena before joining the police force in February, 1989, said he suffered bruises and abrasions during the scuffle. He said he had been at the Carnivale Club that night with his girlfriend and a friend from out of town who specifically had wanted to visit the Fullerton club.

“The atmosphere was nice,” he said, “They have good music. . . . No, I haven’t been back and I don’t plan to, to tell you the truth.”

Pringle and Jones completed their football eligibility last season, and Pringle, a running back, has since been drafted by the Falcons. Siler has one year of eligibility remaining. Fears was dismissed from the team last week for his involvement in the Carnivale incident and another brawl in the campus pub in March.

Fears transferred from Sacramento City College in January but never played a down for the Titans. He did not take part in the Titans’ spring practice session, which ran from mid-April to May 5.

Charlie Taylor, a spokesman for the Falcons, said the charges have had no impact on his team’s judgment of Pringle. Although Pringle has been drafted, he has not yet signed with the team, Taylor said.

“It’s his private matter to deal with it and get a lawyer,” Taylor said.

He declined to speculate on what might happen if Pringle is convicted, saying the team deals with such incidents on a “case-by-case basis.”

“We can’t be a judge or a jury,” he said.

After an El Toro Marine was beaten to death during a fight with two Titan football players in 1988, Titan Coach Gene Murphy forbid players’ going to local bars. Failure to comply with that rule, the coach said, would result in suspension or dismissal from the team.

But last week, Murphy announced a more stringent code of conduct for his players in which each is required to sign a contract to uphold his responsibility as a Titan football player on a year-round basis. Murphy said the agreement will be strictly enforced, even for players who have completed their eligibility.