Oakland Tribune: Cal quarterback Levy arrested after bar fight

Star player suspended from team indefinitely while school investigates

By Susan McDonough, STAFF WRITER

SAN FRANCISCO — Cal quarterback Steve Levy — a rising star who last season led the Bears to a Big Game win over Stanford — has been suspended from the team because of an arrest early Sunday morning after a bar fight in San Francisco, police and university officials said.

San Francisco police Sgt. Neville Gittens said Levy, 22, was at Kells Irish Restaurant and Bar at 530 Jackson St. about 1:30 a.m. Sunday when he and another man got into an argument.  When a doorman intervened, Gittens said Levy threw a pint glass at the doormans face, leaving a gash on his forehead.  Levy left the bar but was detained by a group of people until his arrest nearby at Pacific Avenue and Montgomery Street.  He was booked Sunday morning into San Francisco County Jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, and was reportedly free Monday on

$40,000 bail.

University of California, Berkeley football coach Jeff Tedford said Levy has been suspended indefinitely while Cal athletic officials investigate the circumstances around his arrest.  Levys family, reached by phone in New Jersey, declined to comment Monday.  A team spokesman said the fight apparently started over a girl, who had dated both Levy and the other man.  The spokesman said the doorman threw a glass of water at Levy, and when Levy went to throw the contents of his glass back, the glass slipped out of his hand and hit the bouncer in the face. Levy was ranked as one of the top five quarterbacks in New Jersey when he came to Cal in 2002.  He spent the first fours years of his college football career far down on the depth chart and played fullback one season.  Then because of injuries and poor performance by Cals starting quarterback Joe Ayoob, Levy was vaulted into the limelight last season when, in his first career start, he led the team to victory over Stanford and a month later over Brigham Young University in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Despite Levys storybook performance, Tedford has said the quarterback would not necessarily start when the season begins in September. Nate Longshore, who was out last season with a broken ankle, returned as Cals No. 1 quarterback in spring practice.