UO placekicker Beard charged with assault

Oregon placekicker Rob Beard, 19, of Fullerton, Calif., was charged with fourth-degree assault by the Eugene Police Department on Tuesday because of his role in an incident on January 24.

According to Eugene police spokesperson Melinda Kletzok, the charge is a misdemeanor and not considered a felony. Beard has been cited in lieu of custody, which means he will not report to jail but rather attend a mandatory court appearance.

The assault charge stems from an altercation Beard had with Tavia Jo Ames, 19, of Eugene. Kletzok could not comment as to the exact nature of the altercation.

Beard was originally hospitalized at Sacred Heart Medical Center after a fight that allegedly included 20 to 40 other people. He was found unconscious after being kicked numerous times in the head. He stayed in the intensive care unit for one day before undergoing facial reconstruction surgery.

The incident took place at the intersection of 17th and Hilyard and reportedly occurred around 12:30 a.m.

Kirby Taylor Hawkins, 19, of Portland, and Maurice Dion Peterson III, 20, of Eugene, have also been charged in the incident, both for second-degree assault. Hawkins and Peterson attend Lane Community College, and Peterson was a member of the Titans basketball team during his freshman year.

Fellow Oregon kicker Mike Bowlin, 18, of Mission Viejo, Calif., was also involved in the fight but did not sustain serious injuries. Allegedly, it was Beard who came to Bowlin’s defense before he was knocked unconscious. Bowlin has yet to be charged of any crime, but he has since left the University.

pmalee@dailyemerald.com

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4 comments

Anonymous

Sat Mar 6 2010 02:10

so rob beard hits a girl and then gets the crap kicked out of him for doing it and Chip Kelly is not going to suspend this kid? we see what Kelly does he gets all the facts and looks the other way. This university should be ashamed
for the Athletic departments abusive treatment of women and victims.

Shame on you all

Anonymous

Wed Feb 17 2010 23:08

While I am no fan of "outing" victims either, especially women in cases of assault and brutality, I believe that the paper is now attempting to show some balance on the story as a whole. For several weeks now, the narrative of the story has been that Mr. Beard was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. More information is coming out to show that Ms. Ames is a personal friend of Mr. Pearsons', And that the beating that Mr. Beard suffered at the hands of Mr. Pearson may have at least partially been done as retaliation for the original assault against Ms Ames,

Anonymous

Wed Feb 17 2010 15:41

I’d like to start off by saying what happened to Rob Beard is extremely unfortunate and was obviously taken a few steps so far. With that said, by reporting the name of the female victim in this case it interrupts the actual facts of the case and begins to make it personal. Who the victim of this fight was should make no difference and by including her name it makes this case personal and no longer factual. Regardless of who she was, Beard is still charged for assaulting a woman, a fact that in my opinion should have come to light sooner than it has.
In regards to similar cases, by releasing the name of an assault victim it prevents other victims from similar crimes from coming forward, knowing that they could potentially be broadcasted all over the news as in the current situation. I would also like to say that I have known girls who haven’t come forward in assault cases because they do not want to be a subject of the media. WHO the victim is should not take away from others personal justices in situations such as this.
While my personal involvement in this case is virtually nonexistent, my main issue is that victims in general are not being supported in their attempts for a resolution of a wrong that has happened to them. The Eugene Police Department has made comments about how they generally do not identify crime victims and it would be nice to know that our campus source of media could share the same respect for these victims as well.

Anonymous

Wed Feb 17 2010 13:30

The Register Guard didn't release the name of the victim because they felt that it would have been inappropriate to do so at the civic level. Why does the ODE feel it's appropriate to do so at the campus level? Her name wasn't important and now this young woman could face backlash from disgruntled sports fans.

Seriously, ODE. The information and the story are important, but this article was in no way improved by including the victims name. Conversely, the name's inclusion only served to cause pain and fear for this individual. Don't release the names of victims unless they give you their consent, especially when it involves Football facing actual consequences on Nike U's campus.

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