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USC Basketball Players Allegedly Involved in Series of Brawls in Spokane [UPDATED]
USC Men's Basketball via Facebook
Several University of Southern California basketball players have been implicated in a series of brawls inside and outside of a handful of bars and restaurants in Spokane, Washington.Witnesses report that the USC players were involved in the multiple melees in the city's Downtown area Saturday night and Sunday morning, according to KREM.
Local business owner Noel Macapagal says he encountered the group of athletes who "were saying they were with USC" and "were shouting anti-Spokane rhetoric." Macapagal says he'd received a call from workers at his establishment, The First Wave, saying a large fight had broken out a block away involving the USC basketball players. Apparently, that brawl was the second of the night in which the USC players allegedly participated; an earlier fight took place at a place called the MarQuee lounge.
The second fight was reportedly a pretty big one, according to KNX 1070:
“It was a large fight. Witnesses said it was probably 20 people,” Spokane Police Department spokeswoman Monique Cotton told KNX 1070. “Witnesses did report that they thought it was USC player involvement.”
Macapagal says he saw some of the players "looking drunk" the following morning at a local diner, and provided descriptions to authorities, who confirm the descriptions match those of two USC players.
Even outside the diner, things allegedly got heated. Macapagal says one USC player who appeared intoxicated also was "looking belligerent, calling out our guys, basically admitting to what he had done. [Including] hitting several people, including two women."
Another fight broke out at that location, as well.
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A total of four people were injured.
So far no arrests have been made, and authorities in Spokane are investigating the allegations. Additionally, USC is looking into what happened:
“At this point, all I can tell you is we are aware of the report and are trying to get more info from the Spokane authorities,” USC Athletics spokesman Tim Tessalone told CBS2 in an email.
UPDATE 1 PM: USC says they have suspended two players for "violating an unspecified team rule," according to City News Service. Dewayne Dedmon and James Blasczyk were suspended indefinitely from all team activities. The team is scheduled to play Wednesday night against Utah in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
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