11/30/2005 football Edit

Kyle Williams arrested

Doug Griffiths

Publisher

According to a Purdue News Service release, former Boilermaker football player Kyle Darnell Williams, a 19-year old freshman at Purdue, was arrested by West Lafayette police Tuesday on preliminary charges of battery and confinement in connection with attacks on two women.

Police allege that Williams, a Bolingbrook, Ill., native who is enrolled in the College of Technology, committed the two assaults late Tuesday.

Around 9 p.m. Tuesday, a woman was found unconscious and bleeding in the parking lot behind Delta Zeta Sorority, 825 Hilltop Drive. The victim, an 18-year-old Purdue student, was unable to give an account of the incident or a description of her attacker to police, said Purdue police Capt. John Cox. A search by Purdue and West Lafayette officers, as well as a K-9 unit from the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department, failed to locate the attacker.

The victim later told officers that she had gone to the sorority house to study, and when she arrived she used her cell phone to call a friend who lives in the house. The friend came out immediately, found her unconscious and called 911. The victim was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center and was listed in fair condition today.

Around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, a 19-year-old woman also was attacked in the 100 block of Waldron Street. She told West Lafayette police she was walking westbound on First Street when she was attacked from behind. She was bleeding from wounds to her head and face. The victim was able to give officers a description of the attacker, said West Lafayette Capt. Mike Francis. She was treated at St. Elizabeth Medical Center and later released.

Based on the suspect description, Purdue police Sgt. Pete Wislocki located Williams, a resident of Hilltop Apartments, in the area of Tower and Beering drives about 10:40 p.m. According to a police report, Wislocki reported finding blood on Williams' hands and clothing.

Following questioning by the Purdue and West Lafayette police departments, Williams was arrested and charged with one felony count of battery and one felony count of criminal confinement in the West Lafayette case. Williams was being held in the Tippecanoe County Jail.

Charges in the Purdue campus case are pending the results of blood evidence sent to the Indiana State Police Laboratory. Cox said test results will be used to compare blood found on Williams' clothing to that of the victim in the Delta Zeta Sorority attack.

A Class C felony is punishable by a prison term of two to eight years and a fine of up to $10,000. A Class D felony is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Purdue spokesperson Jeanne Norberg said Williams was released from the football team on Nov. 16 at his own request.

GoldandBlack.com was unable to reach Coach Joe Tiller as he is on the road recruiting.

Jay Cooperider, Purdue's associate athletics director for communications, said there would be no further comment on the subject from members of the athletic department.

Williams, a former blue-chip recruit, was a major contributor as a true freshman early in the season, but midway through the season developed recurring headaches that sidelined him beginning with Purdue's loss at Penn State. He was a virtual non-factor, though, in losses to Iowa and Northwestern and at Wisconsin, and didn't play again afterward.

Last week GoldandBlack.com reported that Williams' career at Purdue appeared to be over after Tiller said Williams was dealing with both physical and "personal" issues.

"I don't expect Kyle back at Purdue," Tiller told GoldandBlack.com last week. "He has the physical issues with the headaches and the like, so his football playing days might be over. That's yet to be determined. And I do think he has some personal issues in his life he needs to get worked out."

Williams appeared in seven games for the Boilermakers, recording 28 tackles (21 solo).

Williams was a Rivals.com five-star prospect out of high school, but signed with Iowa. After being declared ineligible for the 2004 season, he left Iowa City and signed with Purdue after sitting out the fall semester.

Due to his switch of schools, he had to endure a prolonged eligibility drama last summer, though he was finally cleared to play. And play, he did, earning a starting job at weak-side linebacker early in the season.