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

UCLA football player Ricky Manning, Jr. surrendered to police August 27 after a felony warrant was issued for his arrest, stemming from a fight outside a Westwood bar in April.

The senior cornerback and All-America candidate was charged with two counts of causing great bodily injury and released the same night after posting $60,000 bond.

“I was involved in an incident where I was aggressed by an aggressor at a bar-restaurant in Westwood,” Manning said after a morning practice on Wednesday.

“I defended myself, and that’s what I’m going to (say) in court. Hopefully, I get the court on my side.”

Manning is scheduled to appear at Los Angeles Superior Court on Sept. 17 for his arraignment.

Manning’s attorney, Danny Davis, said the 21-year-old was “somber, concerned and focused about this event,” but was surprised at the charge because the April 24 fight outside Madison’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill on Broxton Ave, occurred over four months ago. According to Los Angeles District Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison, the charges against Manning were delayed due to a lengthy investigation.

According to Davis, the 5-foot-9, 181-pound Manning was leaving the off-campus restaurant and bar when older, bigger men who had tried to pick a fight and began some pushing inside the eatery apparently waited for Manning and his friends outside.

“Ricky was not drinking. The aggressors were drinking,” Davis said. “He had his senses about him. They started to attack him, he defended himself.”

No weapons charge was filed against Manning.

Tremaine Mitchell, Manning’s friend, was originally charged with one count of assault, and another was recently added. Mitchell, 21, is the brother of former UCLA star wide receiver Freddie Mitchell, who left school as a junior after the 2000 season for the National Football League.

Manning reported the incident to head coach Bob Toledo the following day and underwent disciplinary action that the coach did not specify.

Toledo will give Manning the benefit of the doubt and allow him to remain on the team and play. He will not suspend Manning unless the cornerback is convicted of a crime.

“I’m sticking up for him because I honestly believe the poor kid was trying to defend himself,” said Toledo, who has talked to witnesses to the fight. “Somebody put him in a corner where he couldn’t do anything else.

“He’s never lied to me. He’s not going to B.S. you. So I believe him.”

Toledo has a long-standing policy of dismissing players who are convicted of felonies and believes it is now being used against his team.

“These people out there are going to try to get in a fight with our guys all the time just so I start kicking guys off the team, and I’m not going to put up with that type of situation.”

Freshman defensive end C.J. Niusulu currently faces felony battery charges after a fight in July at a drive-in theater in his hometown of Barstow. Junior defensive end Asi Faoa was originally charged with felony assault after a fight at a fraternity party in 1999, and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in last September.

Last season, tailback DeShaun Foster was suspended for violating NCAA extra-benefits regulations. The Heisman Trophy candidate drove a sport-utility vehicle that an actor loaned him. Starting quarterback Cory Paus was also suspended last year by Toledo after failing to report a second drunken-driving arrest.

Senior linebacker Audie Attar was kicked off the team in June for punching the brother of former UCLA quarterback Scott McEwan at a bar.

Toledo recently appointed Manning to his 10-player advisory council, which meets weekly to discuss keeping teammates in line off the field.

“(Toledo) hit it right on the head when he said we have to police ourselves,” Manning said last week. “We listen to our peers before we listen to anybody. Me saying something to a teammate means a lot more.

“I’m a born leader.”

Manning is a four-year starter and a two-time All-Pac-10 selection. He played minor league baseball in the Minnesota Twins organization over the summer. Even after this incident, his team has not lost respect for him.

“He’s still a leader of this team,” senior offensive tackle Mike Saffer said. “It was an unfortunate incident, but Ricky was responsible enough to tell coach what was going on. He took care of his business.”

UCLA will try to keep Manning’s arrest, which came 11 days before it plays Colorado State in its season opener, from becoming a distraction.

Senior punter Nate Fikse, who was a roommate of Manning’s last year, said, “We just have to be a team, unite and forget about it. We just have to pull through.

“Shit happens.”

With reports from the Associated Press and Andrew Edwards, Daily Bruin Reporter.