Virginia Tech Hokies tight end Bucky Hodges was arrested and charged with public swearing/intoxication early Sunday morning according to a report from The Roanoke Times Andy Bitter.
The 19-year-old Hodges was booked and released on bond from Montgomery County Jail early this morning. It's a misdemeanor charge.
Blacksburg police Lt. Nathan O'Dell said Hodges was arrested around 12:30 Sunday morning in one of the parking lots at The Edge Apartments in Blacksburg.
I'm not going to condemn Hodges' arrest because I was once an underage kid who was intoxicated in public plenty of times in college. I still to this day tailgate and consume alcoholic beverages in public. I also have a zeal for cursing, in private and public regardless of my blood alcohol level.
However, this is not an optimal start for Virginia Tech's offseason. The Hokies are counting on Hodges, a USA Today freshman All-American, on offense next season. Bucky caught 45 balls for 526 yards and 7 touchdowns last season, and is expected to be an even bigger contributor this year.
It's unknown what type of punishment, if any, awaits Hodges.
Comments
It's a class 4 misdemeanor, only a fine for punishment! Basically you are in jail until you sober up, and then are released! Usually fine is $25.00.
Since it's just a misdemeanor, the CAP doesn't come into play.
I imagine that Beamer will schedule a 5:00 AM training session with young Mr. Hodges to drive home the point that this kind of conduct is unacceptable.
Yup it's basically the equivalent of a speeding ticket other than you sleep off your buzz in a jail cell. Most of the time the reason why officers take a person to jail for drunk in public is because of the liability of not doing so. For example if I were to watch someone I know is drunk keep walking down the sidewalk and they stumble into the road and get killed by a car, i am liable for not protecting that individual by placing them in a place where they won't be harmed. Hope this makes sense.
I don't think that you would be liable in the situation you described, otherwise attending a bar would be a risky proposition for pretty much everyone there from a legal standpoint.
But your point does stand regarding how police have to treat it.
I got the sense that he was speaking from a law enforcement perspective rather than a layman's.
You are correct sir! It is a liability to let someone go that is intoxicated! Now I'm not here to say I haven't been in those shoes and I tend to give everyone a chance to call a ride or a friend that is sober. But attitude is everything guys! Most intoxicated people talk themselves into getting arrested!
I'm not saying Bucky had an attitude or anything like that, just trying to give y'all a perspective form the other side of things.
The worst part is Hodges (other than possible punishment from Beamer) is that it is now a VA law that if someone under 21 is arrested for drinking, that person loses their driving license for a minimum of 6 months. Hodges will also have to take an alcohol related class which will cost about $400.
He was not arrested for drinking.
Yeah, different charge. He was charged with public intoxication/swearing, not underage possession of alcohol. He could likely pursue deferred disposition and do some community service/take an alcohol class and have the charge dismissed after a period of time if there are no more incidents. Really not a huge deal, but he should take this as a lesson learned.
Even if it is public intoxication, the driver's license is revoked. You could say I have a very good "source" on this one.
The Public Intoxication when under the age of 21 (even without the underage possession charge) results in a fine, the loss of he license for a minimum of 6 months, and a required VASAP class.
These requirements just became effective in the summer of last year.
I stand corrected sir. Yes my knowledge is 8-9 years out of state/date.
I looked up the statute for underage purchase/possession/consumption:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+4.1-305
And the statute for public swearing/intoxication:
https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-388
I see where the penalty of license suspension and VASAP is now mandatory for 18-20 year olds convicted of the possession offense. I don't see any additional penalties for the charge of public swearing/intoxication. Unless I am completely wrong, the court would have no authority to levy these penalties for the public intoxication charge. It's only a class 4 misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of no more than $250. Like I said, I could be wrong, but the penalties for these separate offenses are not the same. If they are, I cannot find the statute anywhere that says so. The public intoxication statute also covers public swearing without alcohol or other intoxicating substances being involved. I doubt if someone was charged with swearing that the court would be able to enforce a drivers license suspension and VASAP.
"A friend of mine" was arrested at the VT-UVa game in Charlottesville last year for public intoxication. Lucky for my friend that the cop didn't show up to court, but the lawyer told him that if convicted then he was going to lose his license and would have to take the class. That's the reason he decided to take it to court instead of paying the $70-ish fine.
Edit: And if you click on the underage link you provided and then click on the provision 16.1-278.9 it will bring you to a list of charges that entail the loss of the license and Public Intoxication is listed being that the person is under 21.
Regardless, it's not a big deal aside from the hassle it causes Bucky as long as it is an isolated incident.
The biggest concern is that our first game is one of the biggest of the season. This gives our players a lot of opportunities to make a silly mistake and miss that game.
Not good. Although a "small" offense, nowhere near acceptable.... Hopefully it's a lesson learned for a talented young man.
Or hopefully, like an early bus trip home from the bowl game, it's a lesson learned for the rest of the team as well.
Yeah, Bucky was arrested... BY THE AWESOME HAIR POLICE
Well then, for advice maybe he should reach out to Shoog? Or better yet, since he's such a stud, maybe Dick Johnson!
Y'all haven't seen MY hair...
Haven't seen most of MINE for years...
Does Will Johnston get thrown into this discussion as well? Or nah?
Blacksburg P.D. needs lessons from the Tallahasee P.D. about the proper way to handle a star athlete. Jk
"I still to this day tailgate and consume alcoholic beverages in public. I also have a zeal for cursing, in private and public regardless of my blood alcohol level."
Good answer. Good answer. I like the way you think. I'm gonna be watching you.
If Bucky needs legal counsel......
only because it premieres tonight
well at least Bucky's decision was a lot less severe than the three 19 year olds in the premier episode.
Crab Leg for you sir, oops I mean Turkey Leg
And when the FSU police fail to bring the hammer down, we can take a lesson from FSU legend and tenured coach Bobby Bowden on how to take a hard stance on star players. Like how he benched S. Janikowski for the national title for breaking curfew, amirite
the good thing about the way he handled stuff was that he wasn't a hypocrite. he said discipline wasn't his role and boy did he live up to that. it's weird though, in thinking about it, because his last book is all about religion and value, yet he did little to honor that from a coaching perspective - molding hundreds or thousands of good young men notwithstanding.
Being charged with public swearing/intoxication doesnt mean he was out there yelling and cussing. You dont have to cuss at all. Whether you are swearing in public or drunk in public, you get the same charge. You dont have to be doing both. And believe it or not, you dont even have to be drunk in public, you just have to appear drunk in public. This is about the lowest charge you can get. Much less severe than underage possession of alcohol, which is a class 1 I believe. Stay out of trouble Bucky, and you probably wont miss any time.
Oh yeah, and I got one of these in college... Its not the end of the world
That was one of the first things that popped out to me. He's under 21 and got public intoxication? Everyone I know who was under 21 got underage possession.
Yeah, there is no BAC test taken for a drunk in public. Maybe its just easier for the cops to get someone for DIP rather than underage possession. It is weird that another Temuchin Hodges got a drunk in public the night of the UVa game. Oh well, its not a big deal but just doesnt look good on his part or the teams part. But this charge wouldnt even effect most peoples employment, so as long as it is not a trend...
I wonder how many PI charges Blacksburg PD handed out the night of the UVA game.
Probably more than five, I'm guessing.
So definitely more than the number of fans at a UVA spring game for sure.
By six.
Negative scores are indeed possible. In fact, just today NC State's wrestling team possessed a -1 point total for the majority of the dual meet. Not only did they not win any matches for the first hour or so of the dual, they got dinged another point for a kid throwing his headgear. It was awesome.
Yes that was awesome! The NCS bench was accessed the other penalty point. I think they did get jobbed 149(?) when a last second reversal and take down was overturned. The team is rolling!
They were warned twice, but only got the penalty when the kid threw his headgear after that reversal was overturned. I knew it was going to be close, but if Sal was in control when time expired, not much else the ref can do about it. That's why they have the review.
I would vote you a one up here; but I must of said something here to lower my leg count into an abyss. You may be right TH. I was watching the stream. The clock and the rest of the scoring are mediocre at best. Watch ride time on the score board, it is from Oz. It was an exciting match either way. Most don't get the wrestling excitement. It is no different than running the ball 3 times for 6 yards then hitting a deep slant for a TD.
35 according to the BPD crime log haha
http://www.police.vt.edu/VTPD_v2.1/crime_stats/crime_logs/data/VT_2014-1...
Idk. Maybe a cop didn't see him with a drink but just saw him acting intoxicated? Or maybe Bucky didn't piss him off so the officer cut him some slack? I may or may not have had my own encounter(s) with police.
Possession by consumption is what you're talking about.
Wait, underage college kids like to drink? Hold on, let me show my shocked face:
Don't care. He wasn't driving, he wasn't doing drugs, he wasn't assaulting anyone and he wasn't a Wahoo. A simple, minor infraction.
Plus it's the offseason. Spring practices haven't even started. This is really the only time these guys get to be actual college kids.
He needs to be more responsible. He has a bright future if he doesn't continue to get in trouble
I was terrified when I read the headline.....but then what I read what it was for I was like
Hope he stays out of trouble and they make it clear to him to not even go down that road but glad it was for a minor infraction as it was.
247 was worse. Just tweeted out, "Bad news... ugh." Cause THAT'S not gonna end poorly, right? Thought someone big had committed elsewhere or a coach left or something.
LEG FOR A SCRUBS GIF! That show was awesome. I would totally have pretended to be a thief in her apple orchard for her.
I'd arrange her apples, cheese and crackers any way she wanted. And I definitely wouldn't talk to her when either of us was on the toilet.
I don't find this incident to be the biggest of deals and it's college (stuff happens). But didn't Telvion Clark get dismissed from the team a couple seasons ago for the same charge? IIRC it was a misdemeanor public intoxication and around St. Patrick's Day (or Cinco de Mayo or something) of all weekends. Or was there more to Clark's dismissal?
Clark had multiple DIPs , that's why he got thrown off the team.
When was/were the other(s)? I took to Google out of curiosity but I couldn't find anything saying that. He did get sent home from the Orange Bowl vs Stanford with 5 others for "violating team rules" but I thought that was curfew related,
His was a last-straw situation. Other stuff not necessarily criminal that he had been warned about shaping up.
I'm guessing he'll have a few more of those "6-AM workouts" he had after the Ohio State win, in store for him in the near future.
I can imagine him running the stadium stairs on an early Sunday morning while Beamer lounges in a lawn chair on the field while reading the Sunday paper and drinking coffee.
The imagery of that just made my Monday. And I thank you.
or a milkshake?
I'm not one to make excuses for guys when they screw up just because they're talented athletes but this is seriously no big deal IMO. I personally don't drink to the point of intoxication anymore but I sure did when I was his age. And I did some foolish things when I was sober too! Bucky seems like a good kid that just gets caught up in the moment sometimes. That kind of fire is good in a lot of ways but can be bad in certain situations. Hopefully Frank and Stiney give him a stern talking to mixed with a little physical exertion and call it good.
Swearing in public is a crime?
BPD could arrest most of the Lane Stadium crown on gamedays with this charge.
It's not the swearing which is protected speech, but the circumstances in which you are swearing. creating a public disturbance/nuance. Basically if someone has to call the cops on you because it has reached that level the officer MIGHT arrest you under that charge.
Disclaimer: this is all based of my personal experiences with my law enforcement agency and does not cover depts outside that one especially outside central VA.
Mostly when we're on offense, amirite?
I was picking my friends up from the edge when the cops came, there were 4-5 cop cars Sent for him
I'm most amazed that he fit in one the cars. Must've had a sunroof.
Must've been a busy night.
They only sent 4-5 cop cars after him? Actually, why bother. He cant be contained
How many cars/officers would it take for Sam Rogers? Out of Sam's consideration for the embarrassment of BPD, we will never know.
No one should be concerned about this. It's about the equivalent of being fined for being young and loud. As long as this doesn't become a pattern, Bucky should be fine.
That said the Blacksburg PD are some of the more reasonable dudes around, so maybe don't get pissy with them and give them a reason to mess with you?
I got the same thing after my Freshman year. And I turned out ok.
Right guys?
RIGHT GUYS?!
Let's hope and assume this is just him being young, and not a pattern, because I think he's NFL material and may be one of the biggest talents on the team.
Insert Bucky height joke. How many sets of handcuffs did they need to link together to fit around his wrists?
Didn't Bucky say he had out grown this stuff and he was focused? He got lucky its only a DIP. I know he is just a college student but he is a college student who could potentially be making lots of cash as long as he doesn't f it up. I really hope he and the rest of the team keep their butts out of trouble. This needs to be a positive off season. Not one full of distractions.
I also hope no recruits were present.
I've got no problem with this. Kids will be kids and you're only young once so on and so forth. As long as it doesn't become a habit they shouldn't be punished for letting off a little steam. FYI most cops won't charge you with underage possession as long as you are not physically holding alcohol. Some will because it's in your system if they're dicks or you're belligerent with them.
As a show of solidarity, I suggest we all get drunk together in public. Let's say Labor Day.
There is a motion on the floor. I second. Discussion?
Strong Fulmer Cup start for us.
As someone who used to work the door at a popular establishment downtown and someone who has gotten a drunk in public, let me elaborate on what a drunk in public charge really is 9 times out of 10. As far as Blacksburg PD goes a drunk in public usually means drunk and alone. I have seen countless extremely inebriated groups walk right by BPD and not get a second look given they are not belligerent and remain in a group. Same situation with a single person...taken by the man for a one night stay in the finest B&B Montgomery County has to offer. Never go out alone, or in my case be the lone one of your friends that wants to stay downtown when everyone else wants to hit a party.
According to a friend in the PD, he was in an apartment complex (outside of any individual apartment I guess), which means the police almost definitely had to actually be called.
Still, solid advice there. If you're drunk in public, you'd better be darn sure there's a big group of you.
Maybe they just thought he was alone since everyone else looks so small around him?
Disregard.
I'm not going to lie here...I'm disappointed. I understand underage drinking happens, but if I'm his dad, I'm giving him a stern talking to. If I'm his brother, I'm smacking him on the back of his head and telling him to straighten up. If I'm his coach, he's getting a weeks worth of 5AM workouts. This kid has an incredible future; getting drunk, belligerent and arrested is embarrassing for him, and the program. The only good that might come from this is if it serves as a wake up call for him and others. I was an RA for two years at Tech, and I've seen enough of this behavior from students--let alone scholarship athletes to satisfy my appetite. He needs to lead off the field as much as his does on it. Others are both watching him and looking up to him, whether he wants the attention or not.
I knew Taquan Mizzel was bad influence. Beamer wont be pleased about that.
As others have said, disappointing but ultimately not of huge significance. I hope that Bucky learns from this experience. It's a "teachable moment," so let's hope he takes the lesson to heart.
This troubles me. He has a history of trouble which he said was "cured" by 5 am workouts and then less the a month back in school he is underage drinking and being an ass in public. Hopefully he gets suspended for all or part of spring workouts so he get a real wake-up call. Just because you are skilled on the field does not mean you get to do whatever you want, this is not free shoes university or the $ec...
I'm with Jander, student athletes are supposed to be held to a higher standard. I'm not for suspending him for spring practice, but maybe suspending him for the anOSU game. Or based on the circumstances, tell him that if he slips up just one bit between now and Sept. 7th, he won't play. Beamer is all about second chances, but he is usually pretty good about sending a message to the team. Beamer won't be afraid to send a message despite Bucky being one of the most important players on this team.
No way would I suspend him for the OSU game. He's a young college kid enjoying the short time of the year where he can act like a young college kid. Most incidents like this happen to kids who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe there is more to the story, but for all we know, he was just leaving one apartment to walk home to his apartment. Or he was at a party and the cops rolled by while he was outside. Should he be punished? Sure, but suspending him based on what we know is a little harsh.
You saw what Marcus got away with right?
Yep and I was complaining about him too. I would love VT to get back to the show but not at the expense of dignity, class and the law like so many SEC, ND, USC, *, free shoes, etc schools...
Beamer should let Rogers run the 5am practices for Bucky. I'm sure Rogers would put together an intimidating workout for Bucky.
For some perspective, if this was a Navy kid, he might get a "courtesy" turnover to the command, after which he'd suffer a lot worse than $25 fine and 5am workouts.
This would be what we would call "under age drinking", as well as an ARI (alcohol related incident). He's looking at Captain's Mast, reduction in rank, loss of at least $200, maybe as much as half month's pay for two months (plus if he got the ticket, Mast doesn't count as double jeopardy), restriction to base/ship for two months, and at 19, that could mean he was in a training school - emphasis on was, depending on the school. Also, his career isn't lost, but it won't be as easy as catching a few TDs in spring ball to get back in the good graces. A captain's mast is going to show up on your evaluation history for several years and limit your promotion opportunity.
Oh, and the Navy doesn't care if he was "drinking" or "drunk", the key word here is "underaged". No tolerance (I'll stop short of saying 'zero' tolerance, that's reserved for drugs).
Yeah it makes no sense young men and women under 21 can fight for their country, get horrible injuries both physically and mentally, GET KILLED...yet they cannot have a drink until the age of 21!
But as it stands, the law is the law. Talk to the Commonwealth. We have a high reputation to uphold as reliable operators (and one to erase - see "drunken sailor").
Well I guess it's good we aren't a military school and he isn't in the military then.
It really makes me wonder what exactly was this young man was doing since I recall not getting arrested for walking right down the middle of Main Street at 2am in the morning hold Longhorns on top of my head that I somehow got from someone house, yelling "Me so Horny" at the top of my lung about 6 years ago.
I paid the price the next day but this young Buck is going to have to pay the price a lot longer and deserving to do so.
Whew! I thought this was going to be something serious.
Carry on.
Its comments like this that let these kids think they can do anything, soon we will be as bad as the florida schools...
I wouldn't go that far. It's college. Kids do stupid things in college and really of all the stupid things (see vick, marcus or journell, cody or nicolas, dadi and so on) there are far more concerning things he could have been doing. In reality this is any given night on any given college campus. Being a football player just puts him in the spotlight. Now, we all hope it doesn't happen again and he keeps his nose clean but in the grand scheme of things it could have been much worse. So I second this particular "whew".
FTFW.
I think there is a huge gap between underage drinking (which most people can honestly say they did as a teen) and rape, guns, theft, drug possession, assault, helping youself to Crab legs, obscenities in a dining hall (sorry, got on a Famous Jameis tangent). Of all the things that he could have been arrested for, I put this up there with jaywalking.
Beamer - Plz don't suspend him!!!!!!
So what should the penalty be?
5am workouts AND 10pm workouts Thursday - Saturday night. Make him do some community service. Ideally, make him get a job to pay off the fees, but I know the NCAA wouldn't approve.
It's somewhat unfair that football players are held to a different standard, but he is representing the school. When the word 'arrested' is read next to 'Virginia Tech,' it's not good for the school's image.
The only logical punishment
Have him wear the Fightin Gobbler suit for a day around campus; that will let him know who is boss.
I don't know about that, Bucky might be too tall for the suit.
Blacksburg is the easiest town in America to be arrested for Public Intoxication.
I'd say Radford has us beat there, but not because they drink more, but the cops and town hate the student body more.
I'd say the BPD is pretty lenient as long as you aren't doing anything unsafe
/wanking motion
Unless of course, this somehow results in missed game time... in which case
/panic motion
Meh, slap on the wrist and let's move on. Hopefully it's an eye opener and he'll learn.
I was once a young Ranger and was arrested for theft of government property and drinking under age, this was after the group of us out ran the MP's on foot (fatasses couldn't catch us and we were only running at about 45%), we eventually turned ourselves in when another buddy that was with us and didn't participate got taken in because he didn't escape and evade. I got 7 days extra duty and 7 days restriction to post...I learned two lessons: If with a group of buddies and nefarious acts are about to take place leave said group or don't get caught and, never turn yourself in!
Rule #1 Don't get caught. Glad you didn't lose any rank. Seen it taken for lesser things. I thank God for good NCO's that kept my indiscretions and punishments at the squad level. I know I would have lost mine.
Yeah, our Platoon Sergeant really went to bat for us. Theft of government property was a flashy charge, in all reality it was some unit patch signs made out of plywood that use to be attached to the airborne school barracks.
About 6 months prior to this we did a fast rope demo for a prep rally for the Army/Navy game. The commondant of West Point flag went missing on or about the same time and ended up hanging in our platoon hallway so....The PSG wasn't going to crush us for attempting to do what he and the Squad leaders did successfully earlier in the year.
In college my buddy once took a dump out a car window while going through an intersection and a cop saw him. I learned two things:
1) A cop admits when SHE sees something new
2) a female cop hates when you ask if she liked what she saw.
what was the charge? Indecent exposure and.... reckless endangerment, or littering?
Indecent exposure and I believe a Defacating in public? The funniest part was when he had to disclose the details of the arrest when trying to get a job requiring a background check.
Yeah, I once had an applicant for an internship who had to admit to a urinating-in-public charge. That was embarrassing enough.
I don't get why people are trying to crucify a kid for being a kid. Yes, he made a mistake, but none that the vast majority of TKP community haven't done ourselves. Work his ass off in some 5am workouts and go no further than suspending him for the first half of the first game. Learn from it and move on. Anyone comparing him to Journell or MV5 need to step back, take a breath and remember these are kids in college.
I haven't seen anyone trying to crucify him, and I think the concern is less about this offense and more about whether it becomes a pattern, or the first step in the wrong direction. If this is the worst thing that happens to Bucky before the NFL draft no one will remember it.
Bah, I say a non issue. I think we forget sometimes that 19 year old kids are 19 year old kids, regardless of whether or not they are good at sports.
I remember the night before spring break my freshman year. I was 18 and having a few beverages at my friends place at The Edge before heading to a party at Radford. As we walked out to the parking lot, one of the guys was carrying a case of Coors Lite and tossed a can to a few of us. Before I even opened it, 4 of Blacksburgs finest undercover hoped out of a beat up old Cherokee and asked to see IDs. We poured all the beer out and I was respectful to the officers.
Had my day in court on Underage Possession (which is worse than DIP). On the police report the officer wrote that the beer was not open, and told the judge he did not "smell alcohol on my person", which was definetely not true. I believe to this day the officer cut me a break because I wasn't an asshat to him during the ticketing. Judge gave me 50 hours of community service (which I performed at Johnston student center and honestly made some of my best friends while at VT) and then it was off my record.
I relate this story because I hear people say that student athletes should be held to a "higher standard". I hold myself to a pretty damn high standard, and I don't look at myself as a loser or deadbeat because of this incident. I see no reason that Bucky should be looked at as one either. We all do stupid things that we know we shouldn't. This will literally be less than a blip on the radar except on a site like this that is actively engaged in following all things VT Football.
The Edge is new this year...
Meant Terrace View.
Gotta be honest, could care less, he is a college aged human. Actually, I would feel the same way even if it were some 4th string kicker. If being drunk in public means you can get arrested, I would not have made it through my first week in Blacksburg. I was actually driven home once by an on duty BPD officer as I walked home from a party, sometimes the difference in being arrested for DIP and being driven home by the police is as simple as when a cop's shift is about to end. These student athletes work their tails off, if he learns from it then no harm, no foul. (Disclaimer: If facts other than what is currently known should arise, I may change my opinion)
No issue.
Move along. Nothing to see here...
Update from the Roanoke Times:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/crime/blacksburg/charge-will-be-dropped-agai...
TL;DR version - charges will be dropped pending 25 hrs community service and 6 months of good behavior.
smoneydance.gif
While the update is nice, seeing this headline again in the "Active Discussions" is way too scary.
I thought about that, and it made me cringe a bit, but I didn't feel like this update merited its own thread. Hopefully everyone will note the date of the original post and not freak out.
Me when I saw this headline again:
Me when I actually read your post:
Has anyone, AB, gotten the actual arrest report? Would like to see the circumstances around the incident.
Here's the court filing. Not sure about the arrest report, though.
Jimmy Turk to the rescue!
I'm a little disappointed height and weight aren't on it. Wanted to see if he's still growing.