Three Pittsburgh football players who have been charged with simple assault and conspiracy in connection with an incident last month involving three other students will play this weekend against Notre Dame, according to a statement on the Panthers' athletic website.
The No. 4 Irish (8-0) play host to the Panthers (4-4) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Running back Ray Graham, receiver Devin Street and defensive back Lafayette Pitts were charged in a complaint filed by city police Thursday. The three players have not been arrested, but will receive summonses by mail telling them to report to court Jan. 9 for a preliminary hearing, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"The University of Pittsburgh Athletic Department was recently made aware of a police report relating to an incident allegedly involving three of our football student-athletes on October 21," the school's statement said. "Those individuals have denied any involvement with the situation and have offered to speak with authorities, although to date they have not been questioned or received any court documents. We take matters of player discipline very seriously and will continue to cooperate with any investigation.
"However, we will not, and hope others will not, rush to judgment on these misdemeanor allegations. All three players will remain active members of our program while we gain more clarity on this situation."
According to the complaint, Karl Olsheski, Diana Olsheski and Samantha Mitchell told police they were walking along a street in Oakland, the neighborhood where the university is located, when a group of Pitt football players walked into their path from the opposite direction about 12:30 a.m. Oct. 21.
At the time, Karl Olsheski told police he didn't want to see the players arrested, but did want police to stop the group "so they wouldn't repeat their aggressions at other pedestrians," a criminal complaint said.
Police dispersed the groups and Olsheski and the females returned to a city police station that afternoon to report the incident in more detail. At that time, Diana Olsheski told police she recognized the players as Graham, Street and Pitts.
Karl Olsheski told police that Graham confronted him by saying, "What's up?" along with a racial slur. Olsheski said he tried to walk away but that Graham and Street blocked his way and Pitts kept him from retreating.
Olsheski stated "that shortly thereafter, he was struck one time on the left side of his head by Mr. Street."
Police tried to ensure the students identified the correct players by having them look at photo lineups. While none of the alleged victims could recognize all three players, each player was recognized by at least one, including Mitchell, who recognized Street from a class they took together on vampires.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
