Defensive tackle, shortstop indefinitely suspended from team activities
Two student-athletes were charged and arrested this past week, resulting in an indefinite suspension for each of them, per USC athletics policy.
USC defensive lineman Byron Jerideau was arrested Thursday night and charged with disorderly conduct and jaywalking.
In the incident report for the arrest, the reporting officer wrote that he saw a large group of people coming out of Grandma’s Bar in Five Points, Jerideau being one of them. The report said the officer then heard Jerideau use profanity “in a loud manner” at oncoming traffic while attempting to cross where there was not a crosswalk, though there were crosswalks nearby.
The report states that Jerideau was nearly struck by an SUV in the first lane of traffic, almost causing an accident. Jerideau then “put his hands up, instructing oncoming traffic to stop,” and the officer approached Jerideau once he made it onto the sidewalk.
Jerideau used profanity in speaking to the officer, and the officer could smell alcohol on Jerideau’s breath and person, according to the report. The officer tried to arrest Jerideau, but Jerideau said, “I’m not going to f---ing jail,” according to the report. With the help of two additional officers, Jerideau was arrested and taken to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, while he “continued to use profanity, cursing and causing a greater scene,” according to the report.
The 6-foot-1-inch, 319-pound redshirt junior from Green Pond, S.C., was listed as a backup to senior Travian Robertson this season but played in every game for the Gamecocks.
USC shortstop Tanner Lovick, a junior college transfer from Pitt Community College projected to back up freshman Joey Pankake, was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with drunkeness.
According to the incident report, the reporting officer witnessed Lovick stagger down the steps and trip into the wall of a bar that was being evacuated. Lovick then staggered out the front door, tripping into the reporting officer and asking if the officer wanted to see his identification, “because he was 21,” according to the report.
The report states that Lovick was “grossly intoxicated with a high odor of alcohol upon his breath and person.” According to the report, Lovick had severely slurred speech and was unsteady on his feet, and therefore was arrested “for his safety and the safety of others.” According to the report, when the reporting officer was placing Lovick into handcuffs, Lovick shouted, “This is bulls---. I’m on the baseball team, and I’m 21.”