Trojans’ Foley Charged With Intoxication

Shane Foley, USC’s backup quarterback, was arrested early Monday on a charge of public intoxication after he allegedly kicked a window on a taxi cab without provocation, Newport Beach police said Thursday.

Foley, 22, allegedly came out of a restaurant and bar on Marine Avenue on Balboa Island with Jeff Fryer, a former Loyola Marymount basketball player, and kicked the window repeatedly, police spokesman Tim Newman said.

Foley was arrested at 2:30 a.m. Monday by a police officer who “smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on the breath and person of Mr. Foley,” according to a police report. Foley, a senior at USC, spent six hours in custody before he was released on his own recognizance.

In El Paso, where USC is preparing for its game against Michigan State Monday in the John Hancock Bowl, Coach Larry Smith said he has imposed the following restrictions on Foley:

--He will not start the game but will be available to play.

--He will be confined to the team hotel except to attend practice and other official bowl functions, such as banquets and a trip to a boot factory.

--He will be sent home immediately if he breaks any team rules.

“It’s not that big a thing,” Smith said. “He just had too much to drink over Christmas break. It’s just one of those mistakes that many people make in life.”

Said Foley: “It was an unfortunate situation. I just used poor judgment. I feel badly about it. I let myself, my family and my team down.”

Police reports of the incident said Foley left the Village Inn restaurant and bar at 2:15 a.m. Monday with Fryer, who plays for the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Assn., and a woman indentified as Elizabeth Clock. Foley then approached a cab driven by Robert Excell of Fountain Valley, allegedly kicking the right rear window repeatedly.

“When asked about the taxi incident, (Foley) said he kicked the taxi window, but he wouldn’t tell the (arresting) officer why,” Newman said.

Foley then left the scene in a car driven by Clock, who told police that she met Foley in the bar and agreed to drive him and Fryer to a friend’s house, Newman said. Police stopped the car several blocks away and Excell identified Foley, Newman said.

Neither Clock nor Fryer was charged in the incident.

An All-Southern Section quarterback at Newport Harbor High in Newport Beach, Foley was a seldom-used backup at USC until this season, when he filled in as a starter against Arizona State after sophomore Todd Marinovich was suspended by Smith for cutting class.

Foley also started the next week against California and played extensively in a 56-7 rout of Oregon State. In seven games, he completed 26 of 38 passes for 313 yards and ran for 127 yards in 30 carries.

The latest turn of events increases the chance that senior Pat O’Hara could be USC’s starting quarterback Monday. Smith said Wednesday the position was up for grabs.

Marinovich missed a week of practice this month because of an ear infection, and the only other quarterback on scholarship, Reggie Perry, is a redshirt freshman.