Star PSU athletes arrested in Mexico

Scott Morrison, the star center of the PSU men’s basketball team, was arrested on charges of assault and battery in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Sunday and remains in prison along with teammate Jeremiah Dominguez, who was also arrested and remains behind bars on other charges.

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, who is handling media relations for this case, said that Morrison and Dominguez “participated in a beating against another American student who was doing an internship in San Lucas,” although no sentencing on the charges against them have been announced.

Police began searching for Morrison and Dominguez, the Big Sky Conference MVP, after a scuffle broke out between the two players and other students they did not know at a bar late night on Friday, March 28, according to the consulate. The fight left a student from Michigan, Kyle Meagher, with a severely broken jaw.

The consulate said Morrison “beat up” Meagher, after Meagher intervened during an argument in the streets of San Lucas between the two PSU basketball players and another student who is participating in the internship program in the Mexican city with Meagher.

“It all started because the two players were pushing around a student,” said a representative from the consulate Tuesday afternoon.

According to reports sent to the consulate from San Lucas, Meagher cannot speak because of equipment inside his mouth that will help repair his broken jaw.

The surprisingly negative turn of events for Dominguez and Morrison hit just over a week after the players and their teammates became the first PSU basketball team ever to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Both players were cornerstones on a team that has been touted as one of the best ever to emerge from this university.

Mexican police spotted Morrison and Dominguez in a bar on Sunday, and promptly attempted to arrest them, according to the U.S. Consulate. While taking Morrison into custody for assault and battery charges, the consulate said Dominguez began to run from the police, who were pursuing him because he was with Morrison when the assault happened.

Dominguez stopped running after police fired warning shots into the air, according to a source who wished to remain anonymous because they do not want to get involved with the situation, yet still want to “set the record straight.” The source said police rushed to Dominguez and roughed him up to subdue him because he ran.

The source said that at different points in the fight on Friday night, Morrison pushed one person and punched another person. They say Dominguez did nothing, except run from the police.

The U.S. Consulate said it is presumed that Dominguez was not directly involved in the assault.

Dominguez, originally from Salem, says he ran from police because “he got scared,” according to the consulate. The consulate said Dominguez has stated that police punched him in the face. Police arrested him under charges of avoiding arrest.

The Canadian Consulate in Mexico is handling Morrison’s case and could not be reached Tuesday. Morrison is originally from Vancouver, BC. Neither Cabo San Lucas police nor the U.S. Consulate have released how long Dominguez and Morrison will be detained, or if they will be convicted and sentenced for either of the crimes.

Dominguez, who transferred here from University of Portland, was awarded both Big Sky Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards this year. Morrison was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and led the conference in blocks, averaging 1.66 a game.

The Oregonian reported that Meagher was taken by a cab driver to the Balboa World Class Clinic. Alejandro Rojas, general manager of the hospital, told The Oregonian: “Kyle was choking, his gums were all damaged, his lower jaw was broken into pieces and he had internal bleeding. You couldn’t do damage like this with a baseball bat–it’s worse.”