USC's Garcia Breaks Silence About Arrests
(Columbia) - USC Gamecock Stephen Garcia says it's been quote 'a roller coaster' since he arrived at the college.
Stephen Garcia is speaking out for the first time about his recent arrests. He made his comments during an interview with a reporter from Carolina News, a daily newscast produced by the University of South Carolina's broadcast journalism program.
Stephen Garcia, a freshman and new recruit of the team, was arrested twice in a 14-day span, beginning with an incident on February 17 in Columbia's Five Points. In that case, he was accused of not stopping on police command and public drunkeness. Two weeks later, he was charged with keying a car on USC's campus.
In response, USC football coach Steve Spurrier suspended Stephen Garcia for all of the Gamecock's spring football activities.
Stephen Garcia now explains the first incident in Five Points as a night out with friends that went too far. He says some buddies from his hometown of Tampa had come to visit.
"I wasn't drunk enough to where I don't remember anything that happened and to where I was completely inebriated," He says. "You know I knew what was going on, I had a couple of beers, I wasn't wasted."
Stephen Garcia disputes information put on the police incident report, which says the responding officer pulled out their baton to deal with him. Stephen Garcia also says he never tried to run from officers, another claim made in the report.
The quarterback says the car keying incident came out of frustration over what had happened in the previous weeks.
"I thought what else can go wrong, and here I am parked, ready to park, in a parking spot and someone cuts me off and parks in the parking spot," he says. "So I'm just walking, thinking of all the things that were upsetting me that day and kind of snapped."
Stephen Garcia says now he's ready to play his college career.
"I don't deserve anything, you got to earn it, that's the way I look at everything in life, you got to earn it."
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