Lavender arrested for intoxication, possession
Xavier’s senior point guard was arrested Sunday night and was charged with disorderly conduct and possession of marajuana.
Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
Drew Lavender, a senior point guard on the 2007-08 Xavier basketball team, was arrested at 2:15 Sunday morning following a confrontation with police in the 2700 block of Vine Street in Corryville.
Police reports indicate that Lavender was “highly intoxicated and had to be asked several times to move from a city street intersection, and created a scene while doing so.”
The police continued to ask Lavender to move out of the street, but Lavender “refused until apprehension.”
After searching Lavender, police also discovered him to be in possession of marijuana.
Lavender was released from jail on Sunday after his $2,000 bail was posted.
Due in court on May 2, Lavender said that the incident was “just a misunderstanding.”
Lavender also said that his immediate future with regards to the April 9-12 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in preparation for the 2008 NBA Draft was in doubt, saying, “I don’t know if I am going to be able to go or not.”
When reached for comment, Lavender’s attorney Steve Seibel said “I am going to confirm that I represent Mr. Lavender, and we have initiated our investigation of the circumstances.”
Xavier Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Mike Bobinski indicated that the university was also going to conduct their own investigation into the matter. “We are aware of the charges. We will internally review the matter and will take appropriate disciplinary action as warranted,” Bobinski said.
This arrest comes nine months after Lavender’s previous arrest. On July 27, 2007, Lavender was arrested for recklessly causing an annoyance in a nightclub in the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati when he repeatedly yelled “[expletive] this white club.”
Lavender’s legal troubles reach even further back. In the spring of 2006, while Lavender was red-shirting with the Xavier basketball team after transferring from Oklahoma University, Xavier basketball coach Sean Miller organized an intervention for Lavender’s alcohol problems with Lavender, his family and the Xavier coaching staff, according to Sports Illustrated.
During the intervention, Lavender became emotional when discussing his high school and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) coach Bruce Howard who died in 2003 following liver failure.
In January of the 2006-07 season, Lavender’s first as a non red shirt athlete with Xavier, he was removed from the starting line-up for off-the-court problems.
Even before arriving at Xavier, Lavender had been in trouble with police.
On April 28, 2005, while Lavender was a sophomore at Oklahoma, he and teammate Terrell Everett were arrested for public intoxication and possession of marijuana.
The charges resulted from police pulling over a vehicle that Lavender and Everett were in for traveling 51 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone. Upon approaching the vehicle the police said they smelled “a strong odor associated with burnt marijuana.” After each member of the vehicle failed a field sobriety test, the driver of the vehicle, a 24-year old non-student named Clint Allen Vitosh, was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Police also discovered a “plastic bag containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana” in the vehicle. Both Lavender and Everett told authorities they were unaware to whom the bag belonged.
The charges on Everett and Lavender, both 20 years old at the time, were dismissed for lack of evidence after Vitosh plead guilty to charges of driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana.
Students can now use All Card off campus
Kelly Shaw
Senior News Editor
Jessica Thimons
Sophomore Kelsey Evans uses her All Card at a neighborhood Chipotle.
Last week Xavier launched the Off-Campus All Card, a program designed to provide more food options to students with the possibility of creating future student discounts.
Put into effect on March 28, students can now use X-Cash much like a debit card, and buy items from the Hyde Park Chipotle, the Rookwood Donatos and the CVS on Montgomery Rd. The student body was notified about the program through a portal announcement.
The Off-Campus All Card has been a hope of students, SGA, and various administrative offices for the past couple of years, and it was able to be completed this year as part of the SGA executive platform.
“I have worked very closely with the support of SGA President Maggie Meyer and her cabinet and Senate to bring this program to life,” said Bill Moran, assistant director of Auxiliary Services.
Moran and a group of six students, including SGA Student Life Committee Chair Esteban Gamboa, have worked on the program since December 2007.
Gamboa, already a user of the Off-Campus All Card, believes the program will be beneficial to students and the off-campus companies.
“I think it provides a lot of different options. Many students have complained about the variety, but now we have a broader perspective,” said Gamboa. “It’s an advantage to tie together the Xavier community and the community of Hyde Park or the community of Norwood.”
Gamboa also hopes to bring incentives to using the Off-Campus All Card, stating that he hopes some of the businesses will eventually include a student discount with the use of X-Cash.
There are already incentives for using the Off-Campus All Card. Anyone making a purchase at one of the off-campus locations above using their X-Cash account between April 1-30 will be entered in a drawing to win an iPod Shuffle, a 2GB Flash Drive or one of two $20 X Cash deposits to their account.
One of the reasons students did not see this project completed sooner was the lack of resources. Xavier found help in BbOne, a company that runs the e-learning system, vending, laundry and meal plan system on campus. The company also specializes in managing off-campus programs for over 80 colleges and universities, including fellow Jesuit schools Creighton, Fairfield, Marquette and John Carroll.
Funded by SGA, Xavier pays $2,000 annually to BbOne to recruit the businesses and manage the technical and financial services.
SGA hopes to have six to 10 more businesses participating in the project by next fall. Buffalo Wild Wings, Dominos, Starbucks, The Cheesecake Factory, Kroger, Walgreens, Betta’s and Graeter’s are all possible participants.
Kathryn Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Chief
Rachel Peters
Ann Tassone
Darren LaCour
Senior News Editors
The Xavier Newswire 3800 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, Ohio 45207-2129 On-campus location: The Publications House, 3739 Ledgewood Dr. Telephone: 513.745.3607 Advertising: 513.745.3561 Fax: 513.745.2898 Email: Kathryn Rosenbaum
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