One month after he was arrested for nearly hitting a parking officer on campus, UC Santa Barbara soccer player Sam Strong has been charged with a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving.
On Nov. 4, the county District Attorney’s office formally charged Strong, who was arraigned that day and pleaded not guilty.
According to UCSB police, on Oct. 4, Strong saw a parking official placing a clamp on one of his wheels in a campus parking lot and responded by getting into his car and driving away, nearly hitting the officer.
Strong was later found on campus and arrested.
According to UCSB’s Daily Nexus, Strong had racked up roughly $600 in unpaid parking tickets.
The university told Noozhawk that it had no information available on Strong’s status, but Andrew Wagner, UCSB’s assistant director of athletics communications, told Noozhawk in October that Strong was suspended for the school’s Oct. 6 and Oct. 8 home games against UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge.
According to UCSB Athletics, the sophomore defender played in 10 games this season, ending with the Oct. 1 game against Cal State Fullerton.
Strong will return to Superior Court at the end of the month.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.