Idaho coach Paul Petrino statement on player shoplifting incident
Posted: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 10:27 am | Updated: 11:24 am, Wed Aug 26, 2015.
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(Update: The Daily News has released a full story about this incident)
Several Idaho football players were involved in a shoplifting incident at the VandalStore on Aug. 16, according to a statement released Wednesday by the University and a police report obtained by the Daily News.
The full statement, detailing the incident in which multiple unidentified players were caught stealing $285 worth of merchandise from the VandalStore, is copied below.
The items were returned to the store by the Idaho coaching staff, and no charges were filed, according to the statement and the report.
Coach Paul Petrino was asked about this incident following Tuesday's practice. The questions (bold) and his responses are below.
(How do you plan to discipline those players that shoplifted from the Vandal Bookstore on Sunday, August 16th?)
“That situation has been handled. They’ve already been disciplined and they will continue to be disciplined.”
(What is that discipline process?)
“That’s internal right now.”
(How did you become aware of the situation?)
“I was called by them (the Vandal Bookstore) and I took care of it immediately.”
(Do you know how many players were involved?)
“No.”
(Have you contacted the Dean of Students and filed a new report about the incident?)
“The incident has been reported through the president and everybody knows about it. That’s the final statement right there.”
(Compared to students not involved in athletics it seems that this incident might offer football players special treatment, how do you respond to that?)
“I don’t think there is any special treatment at all.”
Here is the full statement from the University of Idaho:
On August 16, several University of Idaho football players were involved in an incident at the VandalStore. The store was closed to the public, but open to the team, when employees noticed merchandise, valued at $285 at retail, appeared to be missing. Store management immediately called the Moscow Police Department to report the incident. Moscow Police arrived at the store and conducted an initial investigation.
After discovering what happened, UI coaching staff immediately recovered the merchandise and returned it to VandalStore employees within minutes of it being taken.
Ultimately, the VandalStore decided not to press charges against the students involved. The University of Idaho is deeply disappointed in the behavior of these students and in their poor decision making. The athletes involved have been disciplined by the coaches and their behavior will be investigated through the Student Code of Conduct process.
If the investigation reveals that the students involved violated the Student Code of Conduct, they will be disciplined accordingly. The university followed a measured and deliberate process to understand what happened in this case and responded accordingly.
Had the merchandise not been returned immediately the VandalStore would have filed charges as it has done in the past, consistent with store practice, but in this case, the merchandise was recovered immediately and the students involved were disciplined. Under the same circumstances, the university would have taken the same action with any other student(s).
Michael-Shawn Dugar can be reached at (208) 883-4629, by email to
[email protected] or on Twitter to @MikeDugar.
From todays Spokesman Review:
The Student Code of Conduct says, “Any student found to have committed or to have attempted to commit the following misconduct is subject to the disciplinary process” including “Attempted or actual theft of or damage to property of the University or of another person.”
The disciplinary process involves a report to the dean of students office, which investigates to see if the allegation is credible. If it is, the office sets a meeting with the student involved to hear his or her side, investigates further if necessary and issues a finding and disciplinary actions.
The UI said in its statement that had “the merchandise not been returned immediately the VandalStore would have filed charges as it has done in the past, consistent with store practice, but in this case, the merchandise was recovered immediately and the students involved were disciplined.”
“Under the same circumstances, the university would have taken the same action with any other student(s),” the UI statement said.
According to the police report $369.99 worth of merchandise was taken and returned, including four T-shirts, a jacket and pair of shorts. The statement released by UI values the merchandise at $285.
