A Pittsburgh judge dropped criminal charges related to an alleged altercation outside a city club against Penn State linebacker Tyrell Sales at his preliminary hearing yesterday.
This is the second time Sales has faced criminal charges this year, and charges in both incidents have been abandoned.
Sales faced defiant trespass and disorderly conduct charges stemming from an alleged incident involving a confrontation with an unknown woman, bar staff, and police officers Saturday outside a Station Square club, according to court documents.
Sales' high school football coach, from Butler, Pa., Garry Cathell, said he talked to Sales yesterday morning after his hearing. He said Sales told him the district magistrate in Pittsburgh dropped the charges against Sales because the judge felt they were not warranted.
The defiant trespass charge was withdrawn, and the disorderly conduct charge was dismissed, according to court documents.
"He was very happy; he was ecstatic," Cathell said. "I'm hoping everything turns out all right for him."
According to court documents, after witnessing a confrontation between Sales and an unknown woman on Saturday outside a club, its management asked that Sales leave the premises. Police said Sales also refused to comply with repeated requests from police officers to leave.
Court documents state that Sales acted in an aggressive and threatening manner and screamed profanities at police officers, causing a scene outside Margarita Mama's, 1 Station Square Drive East.
Sales claimed that police had asked him to leave because of his race, according to court documents, though Pittsburgh police said they arrested Sales for the safety of himself and others. He was later released on his own recognizance.
Multiple attempts to contact Sales and his father yesterday were unsuccessful.
Team spokesman Jeff Nelson declined to comment.
Sales was also charged last year, along with five other Penn State football players, for an alleged role in an April 1 altercation in a downtown State College apartment. He was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and harassment in connection with the fight, but his charges have since been dropped, according to court documents.
Charges were also dropped against football players Jerome Hayes, Justin King and Lydell Sargeant, according to court documents.
Starting safety Anthony Scirrotto accepted a plea deal Feb. 14 for his involvement in the incident, pleading guilty to misdemeanor defiant trespass; a March 31 trial is scheduled for former defensive tackle Chris Baker.
Baker will face charges of criminal trespass, simple assault, harassment and burglary.
