STILLWATER, Okla. (AP)— An Oklahoma State football player who was three hours late to his hearing was allowed to plead guilty Monday to a reduced charge for allegedly attacking a Stillwater police officer in January.
Payne County prosecutors originally charged Brandon Pettigrew with felony assault and battery on a police officer, but they reached a plea agreement with Pettigrew in which he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery.
Pettigrew must pay a $200 fine and make a $200 contribution to the victims’ compensation fund, as well as perform 20 hours of community service, which he has already completed at the YMCA, defense attorney William Baker said in court.
Pettigrew also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor public intoxication in the incident and was fined $100.
The tight end, from Tyler, Texas, arrived in the courtroom at 1:50 p.m., more than three hours after he was scheduled to appear.
“Where were you this morning? Why weren’t you here?” Payne County Special District Judge Michael Stano asked at 10:30 a.m.
Pettigrew’s answer could not be heard in the observers’ part of the courtroom.
He received a deferred sentence and won’t have a criminal record if he successfully completes probation. Coach Mike Gundy declined to suspend Pettigrew, saying in February that he would allow the case to run its course.
According to an affidavit by Stillwater police officer Paul Priegel, Pettigrew was arrested Jan. 20 after police responded to a report of a fight involving 10 to 15 individuals.
When Priegel arrived, several other officers were on the scene and the fighting appeared to be over, but “there were still several small groups of people yelling and cursing,” the affidavit said.
The group was asked to disperse, but Pettigrew refused to leave, even after Priegel tried to help his friends walk him to a car so they could take him home.
“Pettigrew turned slightly towards me, pulled his elbow into his center and elbowed me in the chest to the point of knocking me back off center,” Priegel wrote in his affidavit.
That’s when Pettigrew was arrested. He was the only person taken into custody.
Pettigrew caught 35 passes for 540 yards and four touchdowns last season.
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