ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 10, 1996 TAG: 9611110063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
JUSTIN TODD PRINGLE says he was abducted by a Tech athlete and forced to drink alcohol.
A University of Virginia student found unconscious on a sidewalk after reportedly being forced to drink excessive amounts of liquor easily could have died, according to the chief medical examiner for Western Virginia.
Dr. David Oxley said that if Blacksburg police had not found Justin Todd Pringle and obtained medical help for his 0.346 blood-alcohol content, death was a distinct possibility.
"A level that high is extremely dangerous," Oxley said. "In the 0.3 range, respiratory depression sets in."
Pringle, a 19-year-old biology major, would have had to drink between 17 and 20 shots of liquor in one hour to reach the 0.346 percent level that police said he had July 27. He would have had to drink more if a longer time period were involved, Oxley said.
Pringle says he does not remember much after the first 10-12 shots of liquor he was forced to drink by "four or five guys." He said he could only identify one man - Virginia Tech defensive tackle Brad Baylor - from a photograph offered to him the next day when he was released from a night in intensive care.
The photograph was a team picture of the Virginia Tech football team, he said.
"I knew all the guys who lived there were athletes; most were wearing Virginia Tech football shirts, the kind they practice in," Pringle said in a telephone interview Friday.
Baylor, 21, was indicted for abduction Wednesday by a Montgomery County grand jury. Tech officials suspended Baylor from the football team for the remainder of the season after he was indicted on the felony charge. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine.
The junior from Mount Sidney in Augusta County is being represented by Marc Long. Long also is representing another football player who was among seven indicted Wednesday in connection with an Aug. 31 brawl. A former player also was indicted in the brawl, bringing the indictment total to nine.
Long called police evidence "sketchy" and said Baylor was not involved in the incident at all.
"I will prove they have the wrong guy," Long said. "I believe Brad Baylor will be exonerated."
Authorities said they found Pringle lying unconscious on a sidewalk in the 1200 block of South Main Street. Police took Pringle to Columbia Montgomery Regional Hospital, where he was treated for high blood-alcohol content, according to Lt. Bruce Bradbery.
Bradbery said Pringle's blood-alcohol content was more than four times the state's legal limit for motorists.
Although some people may view the incident as nothing more than a prank, Oxley said the situation was deadly.
"The big deal is you can die. Simple pranks like this can lead to death," he said.
A blood-alcohol level above 0.4 percent is listed in some literature on alcohol abuse as potentially fatal, but a Radford University student's death was evidence that death can happen at much lower levels. Eighteen-year-old Valerie Cole died of acute alcohol poisoning in February; she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.31 percent.
Pringle was taking classes at Tech during the summer session and was living with a friend. He said he pressed charges in the case a couple of days after he got out of the hospital because his blood-alcohol level was so high. He said he is still paying for his hospital stay - a bill that is close to $2,000.
"I didn't do it to myself," he said.
Bradbery said Pringle was looking for friends in an apartment complex when he wandered into the wrong apartment. Pringle said the apartment door was open and music was playing. He asked the occupants if his friend was there and they said no. Then they kept him at the apartment by threatening him. Police said Baylor was among the men inside the apartment.
"I remember the one guy [Baylor], that was the main guy," Pringle said.
Pringle said he was told to drink shots of liquor and he was scared to refuse. Bradbery said Pringle attempted to leave a second time and was threatened with bodily injury if he did. Pringle told police he blacked out soon after that and does not remember much else, Bradbery said.
Police found Pringle about 1:30 a.m. Portions of his head had been shaved. Bradbery said investigators do not know what time Pringle entered the South Main apartment, but they do know that Pringle was seen at a party about 11:15 p.m.
Bradbery said there may have been more people at the apartment that night, but no more charges are expected.
Baylor's suspension did not make Pringle "happy," he said. His objective was to "not let them get away with it."
In April a judge took a shoplifting charge against Baylor under advisement and ordered the athlete to perform 100 hours of community service as well as attend a state-run rehabilitation program. The lawyer who represented Baylor on that charge refused to comment except to say his client was not found guilty.
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