
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990                   TAG: 9005090017
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

RICE GETS STEAMED, ARRESTED/ UNC GUARD CHARGED WITH ASSAULT, RESISTING

North Carolina starting point guard King Rice became upset after his arrest on assault charges Tuesday morning and punched a hole in a plaster wall at the jail, authorities said.

"King had just completed exams and certainly didn't make a wise choice in celebrating too much last night," coach Dean Smith said.

"He'll be treated like any other student," Smith said in a prepared statement released Tuesday afternoon. "I'm sure he'll get a lawyer and let the courts move from there. As a member of the basketball program he has certain responsibilities and that issue will be dealt with privately."

The junior was released under $2,500 bond after police arrested him for assaulting a female, resisting arrest and destruction of public property, police said.

Chapel Hill police Capt. Ralph Pendergraph said the incident began at 3 a.m. in the downtown area.

"One of our officers observed [Rice] struggling with a female at University Square about three in the morning," Pendergraph said in a telephone interview. "It appeared that he was choking the person."

Pendergraph said Rice and the unidentified woman apparently knew each other. When Public Safety Officer Ed Brooks attempted to take Rice into custody, he resisted, according to Pendergraph. Assisting Officer Ben Wiseman suffered a dislocated thumb and had to be treated at the University of North Carolina Hospital, Pendergraph said.

Rice was brought before a magistrate and charged with resisting arrest and assault on a female. Pendergraph said Rice was allowed to make a phone call.

"After he made the phone call, he appeared to become upset and struck the wall with his fist and punched a hole in the plaster board," he said. That resulted in a destruction charge.

Rice was placed under $2,500 secured bond and transferred to the Orange County jail, about 10 miles away. He was released around 6 a.m. on bond paid by teammate Jeff Denny, said Danny Mason, a bail bondsman from Durham.

"He told me that it was no big deal," Denny said. "He says it was all a total misunderstanding with the officers. It's nowhere near the ramifications that he would have to go to jail."

Rice's first court appearance has been set for May 31 in Chapel Hill.

by CNB