UNM sophomore safety Blake Ligon waived a court appearance Wednesday and entered a not guilty plea on misdemeanor charges stemming from an altercation with bouncers and Albuquerque police at a Downtown nightclub earlier this month.

Ligon, 20, and teammate Herbert Felder, 20, were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and failure to obey police following a disagreement at the 18-and-over Colosseum nightclub at 1:40 a.m. on July 7 -- early Thursday morning. The players are accused of arguing with police and failing to leave the sidewalk outside of the club. Officers used pepper spray to detain the athletes and arrested them.

Felder entered a not guilty plea last week and both players' cases are being set for trial separately. Rudy Chavez, a defense attorney representing Felder, said both players are innocent and police overreacted. Phillip Sapien, Ligon's attorney could not be reached for comment.

UNM football coach Rocky Long has said he will wait until the court cases are resolved before taking any disciplinary action against the players.

Posted by ilimon at 12:12 PM | Permalink