The first of three stories I just filed for tomorrow ...

BY DARRYL SLATER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Virginia Tech basketball player A.D. Vassallo and former Tech player Chris Tucker were arrested Thursday by Virginia State Police in Christiansburg and charged with petit larceny shoplifting, a misdemeanor. Vassallo also was charged with driving without a license.

Two days after the arrest, Vassallo, 22, played in Tech’s win against Columbia in Madison Square Garden. But he did not start and sat out the first 6:42. Tech coach Seth Greenberg said he benched Vassallo because he broke an unspecified team rule.

Vassallo, a senior wing who leads the Hokies with 19.3 points per game, started and played all of Sunday’s win at the Garden against St. John’s. Tucker was a senior reserve during the 2006-07 season.

Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver said he did not suspend Vassallo because he believes Vassallo is innocent and because he hadn’t seen a police report, which he said he always gets when a Tech athlete is arrested.

“My understanding is that A.D. Vassallo did absolutely nothing wrong, and as a result I did not do anything,” Weaver said. “I’m just not gonna go and do something before I see a police report. We’ll deal with it in the appropriate fashion, if there’s anything else to deal with, once the police report gets here.”

Weaver said he based his understanding of Vassallo’s involvement on a conversation with a person who relayed an account of the incident provided by Jimmy Turk, the attorney for Vassallo and Tucker.

“We’re gonna let the [legal] system play its course,” Greenberg said, declining to comment further. 

Vassallo and Tucker were arrested around 1:54 a.m. Thursday at a Stop In Food Stores convenience store for stealing a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper, said State Police Sgt. Robert Carpentieri. They were charged with misdemeanors because the item cost less than $200.

Turk said police allege that Tucker left the store, took the soda from a display area outside and got into a car driven by Vassallo. Trooper G.A. Syres watched the incident from inside the store, Carpentieri said.

After Vassallo and Tucker drove away with the soda, they were stopped and arrested by Syres. He charged Vassallo for driving without a license because he could produce only a Virginia Tech student identification card, Carpentieri said.

Vassallo and Tucker are scheduled to appear Feb. 11 in Montgomery County General District Court in Christiansburg. For the driving without a license charge, Vassallo is scheduled to appear Jan. 5.

Turk does not expect either Vassallo or Tucker to be convicted. He said Virginia law allows courts to take minor arrests under advisement and dismiss them as long as the offenders don’t get in trouble for six months to a year. Courts often use this approach when the offenders have no criminal history, which is the case with Vassallo and Tucker, said Turk, who has previously represented several Tech athletes.

“Worst-case scenario, both of them should easily be able to avoid any criminal convictions even if they’re both involved,” Turk said. “Or if one’s involved, one should be able to. … It would be extremely unusual and very uncommon for them to suffer a conviction or any significant life-altering circumstances.”

Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver did not suspend Vassallo because he believes he did nothing wrong