Gamecocks' Garcia, 2 other players charged

By Joe Person - The State

South Carolina freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia is in trouble again.

Garcia, 20, was one of three players cited and charged with underage drinking after police found them with coolers of beer outside East Quad dormitory at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the first of two incidents involving Garcia at the dorm in a five-hour span that night.

Garcia, offensive lineman Heath Batchelor and walk-on quarterback Zac Brindise were cited for underage drinking by police responding to students' complaints of loud noise in the courtyard between the East and South Quad dormitories, according to USC spokesman Russ McKinney.

Gary Garcia, 25, the quarterback’s older brother, is charged with transferring beer to a minor, according to the tickets issued by campus police.

Stephen Garcia paid a fine of $257.50 in Columbia magistrate’s court today on the underage drinking charge, according to his attorney, Neal Lourie. Garcia’s license will be suspended for four months, but he will be able to drive his moped, Lourie said.

“He did not want to request a jury trial. He did not want to put the university, his teammates, the fans through an unnecessary, long, drawn-out process,” Lourie said. “He just wanted to get it over with (and) take responsibility.”

Batchelor, 20, and Brindise, 19, are scheduled to appear in court next month.

McKinney said all three players would go through the university’s student disciplinary system.

Less than five hours later after the underage citation, officers interviewed Garcia again after police and the Columbia fire department responded to a fire alarm at the dorm at 11 p.m. Authorities discovered an extinguisher had been discharged on the third floor of the dorm.

Garcia told police he discharged the extinguisher after noticing sparks coming from his stove, according to the incident report. Garcia is listed as a suspect on the report, but has not been charged. McKinney said the incident remains under investigation.

Garcia, a highly touted righthander from Lutz, Fla., was suspended for spring practice last year after being arrested twice in two weeks shortly after arriving on campus. He completed the state’s pretrial intervention program to have two of the charges expunged from his record. A third charge was dropped.

Under USC athletic department policy, athletes who are arrested face automatic suspensions. It is unclear whether the same discipline applies to athletes issued citations by police.

USC media relations director Steve Fink said Garcia is scheduled to sit out tonight’s spring practice for missing classes this semester.

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier attended a former teammate’s funeral in Florida today, but is expected to be at this evening’s practice.