Emporia State football player Alex Otoo has been charged with aggravated assault after a female ESU student said he assaulted her outside a university cafeteria on Nov. 21.
According to WIBW 13 News in Topeka, the woman’s father has stepped forward, saying Otoo allegedly pulled a switchblade knife on his daughter.
The news station reported that the female student received a letter from the ESU Student Affairs office regarding the incident, saying Otoo had been put on university probation for all of 2007 and will serve a one-game suspension in the first football game next year. In addition, he has been ordered to go to sensitivity training and also to write a formal letter of apology to the alleged victim.
Speaking anonymously to protect his daughter, the woman’s father told 13 News he felt the punishment Otoo received was not severe enough.
ESU Athletic Director Kent Weiser said the athletic department had no say in the punishment handed down, as the incident was a violation of the school’s code of conduct. That matter is taken care of in Student Affairs.
“No one has consulted us,” Weiser said. “I just heard through the Student Affairs office that he was involved in something. I don’t know the facts of it. I have not been privy to how they determined what happened and what the punishment was exactly.”
Weiser said the athletic department had to sign a release to even view the letter sent to the alleged victim.
“The report gave the impression that (the father) was saying (Otoo) was getting preferential treatment because he’s an athlete. I can’t see that,” Weiser said. “I don’t know who was on the code of conduct group. There certainly wasn’t any athletic department personnel. We made no lobbying effort or anything like that.”
Weiser said the athletic department would review the matter after the case played out in court. Depending on the outcome, Otoo’s punishment could be more severe than the one-game suspension issued by the code of conduct committee.
“Right now, I still feel like we do not have all the information,” Weiser said, “but we’re not going to put up with that kind of stuff if this is what actually happened.”
The assault charges stem from an incident that occurred at the Memorial Union on Nov. 21, according to the affidavit written by ESU Police Officer Jeremy Rhodes on Nov. 22 and filed in Lyon County District Court.
The woman told police she had been talking with a friend between the Union and Southeast Morse Hall at around 12:15 p.m. when Otoo approached her. According to the affidavit she had previous contact with Otoo through the Memorial Union when he “would come in and use other students’ Hornet cards to eat” in the cafeteria.
“[She] said that she was tired of letting Otoo go in and eat without even using a card, and told him in the past two weeks that she was not going to let him do it anymore,” Rhodes wrote in the affidavit.
The alleged victim said Otoo had harassed her ever since she wouldn’t let him eat without paying. On this day, she said she saw him open a knife in his hand and hold it down at his side as he approached her.
The woman said Otoo then leaned in toward her, holding the knife at his side, while saying, “Are you getting ready to go in and swipe the cards?”
She told police she felt threatened and unsafe, as she believed the knife opened like a switchblade and was very long.
The woman’s friend told police Otoo later walked away laughing.
According to the affidavit, Otoo was arrested that night after being identified at the Emporia State basketball game. He was released from jail after posting $25,000 bond.
Otoo, a sophomore from New York, N.Y., played in 11 games for the Hornets last season, recording 31 tackles and two tackles-for-loss. He was second on the team with two interceptions.
Otoo has a preliminary hearing set for Dec. 14 in Lyon County District Court.
The incident occurred just five days after ESU head coach Dave Wiemers resigned from the position. ESU is still in the process of hiring a new coach.
Weiser said that even though the football players did not currently have a coach to report to, he still expected greater responsibility from his student-athletes.
“We want guys whose behavior,” Weiser said, “isn’t dependent on people looking over their shoulder.”