Since we’ve been on the police blotter kick lately, we may as well continue with an epilogue to one of our previous taser stories.  No, not the Florida John Kerry heckler, bro.  Actually, we’re referring again to Pitt PG Levance Fields, who as you may recall, on Sept. 16 became involved in an altercation with an off-duty police officer:

According to Pittsburgh police reports, Fields, 20, was arguing with an unknown man and using obscene language outside Puro nightclub early on the morning of Sept. 16.  An off-duty officer working security at the club on 19th Street said Fields appeared to have been drinking and ordered him to stop yelling. The officer said Fields punched him in the chest, grabbed his belt and reached for his gun, and the officer and his partner used a Taser gun to subdue and arrest Fields.

Let’s pick out the key piece of information here, in case you scanned over it.

Fields punched him in the chest, grabbed his belt and reached for his gun

Fields Should Thank Pat O’Brien His Attorney

Now, we’re no expert in this sort of thing, but it seems like making a play for a cop’s gun is grounds for all kinds of nastiness to come down on you.  So imagine our surprise when we heard this news from Pittsburgh:

Prosecutors agreed on Tuesday to drop charges of disarming a police officer, public drunkenness and aggravated assault, stemming from Fields’ alleged scuffle with a police officer on Sept. 16. A lesser charge of simple assault will stand.  In exchange, Fields must spend nine months in the Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition program and serve 50 hours of community service. If he completes the probation without incident, his record will be expunged, defense attorney Robert DelGreco Jr. said.

So Fields went from facing several felonies and a near-guarantee of jail time…  to a lone misdemeanor of simple assault.  And for what penance – fifty hours of community service?  We think we did that much tree planting and mail sorting in one semester for alcohol violations in college. 

Either Mr. DelGreco, Jr., is a master of advocacy on behalf of his clients, or the Allegheny County DA has Pitt season tickets.  Considering the Panthers lost Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall from last year’s Sweet 16 squad, the potential loss of Fields could have made for a boring winter in the Steel City.  As long as Fields can spare 1.28 hrs/week for community service over the next nine months and resist any and all urges to throw haymakers at officers, Pitt basketball should remain a viable entertainment option for Stephen A. Zappala, Jr., and his friends.       

One story that got short shrift from us yesterday was the news that Pitt’s starting PG Levance Fields went apesh*t on an off-duty cop outside a nightclub on Sat. night:

According to Pittsburgh police reports, Fields, 20, was arguing with an unknown man and using obscene language outside Pure nightclub at about 2 a.m. An off-duty officer working security at the club on 19th Street said Fields appeared to have been drinking and ordered him to stop yelling. The officer said Fields punched him in the chest, grabbed his belt and reached for his gun.  The officer and his partner used a Taser gun to subdue and arrest Fields.  Fields was charged with aggravated assault, disarming a police officer, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

Something tells us Fields is facing a hefty suspension from Pitt.  As we all know, only Joey Dorsey gets away with random acts of violence and mayhem.  So where does that leave the Panthers?  Jamie Dixon’s teams play slow and boring program basketball, which mitigates the loss of any one player.  Still, with the graduation of Aaron Gray inside and potentially the loss of their point guard for some or all of next season, Dixon may be searching for quick fixes. 

In somewhat related news, an overzealously inquisitive Florida fan named “the” Andrew Meyer got tasered by UF police fascist pigs for  questioning John Kerry during a speech about a number of things, including his voting record on Iraq and Yale’s Skull & Bones Society.  Despite what we think about the po-po’s infringement of Meyer’s right to free speech here, we happen to find his shrieks of “owwww” and “help me” to be hilarious.   Maybe that’s just us, though.

What’s he so mad about?  After all, Florida wins everything (even elections).