LSU's Derrick Odom Charged, Perrilloux Cleared in Nightclub Brawl

http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7292354

LSU football player Derrick Odom has been charged with simple criminal
damage to property in connection with a fight at a nightclub near
campus, Baton Rouge police said Wednesday. The charge is a
misdemeanor. According to police, Odom is accused of returning to the
nightclub about an hour after the fight ended and smashing the window
of a vehicle in the parking lot. LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, who
was also involved in the fight, has NOT been charged in the case,
police said.

Odom and Perrilloux were at The Varsity nightclub early last Friday
morning, with their pregnant girlfriends, when the players got into an
altercation with club bouncers. The bouncers say they were trying to
clear the club of patrons at closing time when Odom, Perrilloux, and
several others refused to leave. Perrilloux told police he believed
they were being singled out because they were black.

Police say an employee of The Varsity told officers that a man he
believed to be Ryan Perrilloux pointed a gun at him and the employee's
girlfriend. However, the employee did not report that alleged incident
until nearly 24 hours after it allegedly happened, police said. And,
police said, the employee was later unable to identify Perrilloux in a
photo lineup. Investigators say they reviewed surveillance tape from
the nightclub and were unable to locate "any visual evidence
whatsoever to support this allegation."

There was no immediate word from LSU Athletics regarding either
player's status with the team. However, WJBO radio quoted sources as
saying Odom will be dismissed from the team and Perrilloux will likely
be allowed to stay on as a player. LSU Head Football Coach Les Miles
is expected to discuss the matter during his regularly scheduled media
briefing around 6pm Wednesday.

Odom's attorney, Anthony Bertucci, says he hopes Miles will consider
that the charge is a misdemeanor and what Bertucci characterizes as a
"minor offense." Bertucci says Odom has a court date of January 8,
2008. Odom has twice before faced charges by Baton Rouge Police for
incidents involving damage to property. A man who claimed his property
was damaged by Odom earlier this year later said he wanted to drop the
charges because Odom had apologized.

A surveillance tape at the business reportedly captured much of the
altercation on tape. Attorneys for both players went to court Tuesday
and got a judge to agree to order that a copy of that tape be released
to the attorneys for their review. Both attorneys have declined media
requests for copies of the tape. Baton Rouge police have also declined
to release copies of the tape to reporters.
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