• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Junior reserve offensive guard Shane Lehmann was suspended for Saturday’s season opener against Colorado State after pleading no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor battery charge for an incident that occurred at Madison’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill in May.

Team policy states that a misdemeanor conviction results in a suspension. Toledo said no jail time was involved in the case. Lehmann, 21, reported the incident to Toledo the following day and received undisclosed disciplinary action.

According to Toledo, Lehmann had been employed as a security guard at the Westwood establishment, but he was not working the night of the incident. Lehmann told Toledo that he found it necessary to defend a co-worker from an attack by the complainant.

“The manager had a problem, (Lehmann) went to help with the problem, the guy threw a punch and he threw a punch back,” Toledo said.

Neither Lehmann nor his attorney were available for comment. The suspension comes exactly one week after senior cornerback Ricky Manning, Jr. was arrested on charges of felony assault stemming from a fight outside Madison’s in April.

“It’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Manning said of Lehmann’s incident. “Guys get in trouble, guys get in fights. It just happens that he is on our team, and we are in the public eye.”

Toledo last week declined to comment on whether or not there were other fighting incidents unknown to the public, but added, “It’s always possible, sure.”

Since the Lehmann incident, Toledo has banned players from patronizing certain Westwood establishments and working as security guards at those establishments. He declined to specify the number of locations or if they were limited solely to Westwood.

“All players are banned from going to certain establishments that continue to be a problem for us,” Toledo said.

“It’s fine with me,” sophomore free safety Matt Ware said. “I try not to go out. I think it’s a good thing.”

Lehmann started six games in 2001 at right guard, but sophomore Steven Vieira beat him out for the position by the end of the year and is the projected starter on Saturday.

Lehmann was questionable for the game due to a groin injury, but Toledo said he would have played if not for the suspension after trainers cleared him to play. He practiced with the scout team on Tuesday.

Besides Lehmann and Manning, two other current UCLA players have been involved in known fights. Freshman defensive end C.J. Niusulu was charged with felony assault in July after a fight at a drive-in theater in his home town of Barstow.

Junior defensive end Asi Faoa pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault last September after a fight at a UCLA fraternity party. He was sentenced to 180-day jail sentence and is due in court next week.

Senior linebacker Audie Attar was kicked off the team in June for punching the brother of former UCLA quarterback Scott McEwan at a Westwood bar. Attar also fought with former UCLA baseball player Charles Merricks, leading to a one-game suspension in 1999. Attar has since transferred to Idaho State.