Coach pulls two baseball players from this week’s Pepperdine series

Two players from Oregon State University’s national college championship baseball team apologized in a press release Thursday for their arrest in connection with a rifle being fired inside city limits. A former player from the 2007 team also was arrested Tuesday. All three were charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a class C felony.

Corvallis police say that the three fired rifle bullets into a neighbor’s house during some late-night target shooting — one into a bedroom. The bullets also struck a car parked behind that house in a neighborhood north of campus.

OSU has suspended the two players still on the team, Jorge Reyes, 20 and John Wallace, 21, from OSU’s next three-game series. The third, Anton Maxwell, 22, was a pitcher on OSU’s 2007 championship team.

Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson on Thursday filed a court brief seeking charges against all three for unlawful use of a weapon, recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief.

The information could be taken to a grand jury, or charges could proceed through the court if the defendants waive the right to have a grand jury review the charges.

Reyes and Wallace are starters for the Beaver baseball team. Maxwell was a pitcher on the team last year.

Reyes, a sophomore pitcher, was named “Most Valuable Player” of the 2007 series. Wallace is a junior outfielder who plays significantly as a starter or off the bench. Wallace also was a Pacific-10 Conference academic honorable mention selection last season.

OSU baseball coach Pat Casey said Thursday in a press release that as a consequence of their arrests, Wallace and Reyes will miss the home series against Pepperdine University that started on Thursday and ends Saturday.

The athletic department’s discipline policy recommends a minimum of a two-game suspension for any interaction with law enforcement if the incident does not involve alcohol, drugs or violence. The policy does not specify what type of interaction falls in this category.

The policy states that the “overriding principle” governing discipline of student-athletes is that they will be immediately suspended until the legal process runs its course. Athletes will be permanently dismissed if they plead no contest or guilty to a felony, or are convicted of a felony. However, the policy also leaves room for “mitigating circumstances” that could alter the consequences.

Casey wouldn’t elaborate about the rationale behind a three-game suspension for a felony arrest.

“Jorge and John are very good individuals and have a history of being terrific ambassadors for Oregon State University,” Casey said in the press release. “However, in this instance, they did some things that were out of character for them and not well thought through. There are consequences from your actions, and I’m hopeful this is an educational experience for both young men.”

The whole incident began when Corvallis police responded to the 200 block of Northwest 15th Street after Brian Bodtker reported finding a bullet hole in the bedroom of his house, where six other students also live. Bodtker reported the incident at approximately 11 a.m. and was not home at the time it occurred.

“One shot went through my bedroom window, ricocheted off the wall and landed on my bed,” Bodtker told the Gazette-Times.

Bodtker also found two holes in the back of the house and three in his car, which was also parked in back.

Police later confirmed that two students were home at the time of the incident, which occurred at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. One student was awake at the time but told Bodtker he thought the sounds of the shots were fireworks. No one was injured in the incident.

Three men were shooting at soda cans in the backyard of Maxwell’s residence, which is in the 200 block of 14th Street, and behind Bodtker’s residence, said Corvallis Police spokesman Lt. Dave Henslee.

Bodtker’s neighbor told the Gazette-Times that she saw three men firing a rifle toward a fence from the backyard of a house on the 200 block of 14th Street at 1:30 a.m. The woman did not know who the men were, and she said she thought nothing of it at the time.

Police responding to the complaint arrested Reyes, Wallace and Maxwell. They were booked into the Benton County Jail and then released, Henslee said. He described all three as cooperative.

In a press release, Wallace said, “I understand and respect coach Casey’s decision. I deeply apologize for the incident. I sincerely regret my actions and putting coach Casey and our team in this situation.”

Reyes, the team’s No. 2 starting pitcher, also issued an apology.

“This is an unfortunate situation I have put myself, my coaches and my team in and for that I am sorry,” Reyes said. “I respect coach Casey’s decision and vow to learn from this mistake. Like John, I realize the seriousness of my actions.”

The three’s actions also will be assessed by the legal system. The three are scheduled to appear in court April 3 to face possible charges.