Cougs’ Pitoitua misses court date for second citation in two weeks
COLFAX – Washington State defensive lineman Ropati Pitoitua failed to appear as scheduled in a Whitman County court Monday afternoon and as a result Judge David Frazier ordered a warrant be issued for his arrest.
Pitoitua, who turned 20 in April, was arrested in Pullman in the early hours of Saturday morning on a drunken driving charge and was released hours later after signing a form pledging to appear in court Monday, according to Pullman Police Sgt. Dan Dornes.
Since Pitoitua is not of age, the legal limit for blood alcohol when operating a motor vehicle is .02, not .08. And after failing a field sobriety test, Pitoitua registered a .06, according to the county prosecutor’s office.
WSU head football coach Bill Doba had not been able to get in touch with Pitoitua until Monday night. Afterward, the coach said Pitoitua is in Hawaii with family until May 18.
He told Doba had originally misunderstood the necessity to appear in court and already had plane tickets booked. Doba said Pitoitua claimed he called the courthouse Monday morning to explain his whereabouts. That message, if it would have made any difference, was not relayed in the court proceeding. When the 20-year-old returns, Doba said, he will be fully cooperative with police and the court system in resolving the situation.
Dornes said Pitoitua was pulled over at 1:15 a.m. Saturday because he was driving without headlights.
The arrest came less than two weeks after Pitoitua was issued a minor in possession citation, which occurred in Pullman on April 26. In addition to ordering the warrant Monday, Frazier set bail at $5,000.
The 20-year-old was scheduled to arrive in court at 4 p.m. and his case was the last one heard at 6:17 p.m. With Pitoitua absent, Frazier ordered the arrest warrant as mandated by state law and as requested by Whitman County Deputy Prosecutor Sharea Moberly. Because it was ordered after business hours, it won’t be processed until this morning.
Pitoitua was a starter at defensive tackle last season for the Cougars as a grayshirt freshman and is expected to be one of the cornerstones of the WSU defensive unit this season as a sophomore.
“I want to know more about (it),” Doba said, addressing the probability of disciplinary action from the football program. “Our policy has been to suspend the kid until we get the facts. We’ll figure out some type of punishment.”
In October 2003, when linebacker Will Derting was arrested on a drunken driving charge, Doba suspended him for the first quarter of the next week’s game. A similar suspension could be a possibility, though not a guarantee, in this case.
With the April citation and the new charge of a minor operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol, Pitoitua could also be in danger with university policy.
According to WSU’s handbook, students committing a second drug or alcohol offense have to meet with school officials and a third offense carries a mandatory minimum suspension of one semester.