LOS ANGELES (AP) - Former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips was ordered to stand trial on assault charges for allegedly driving a car into three teenagers who argued with him following a pickup football game.
After a two-day preliminary hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Samuel Mayerson ruled Wednesday that there was enough evidence to hold Phillips on seven counts of assault to commit great bodily injury.
The judge dismissed two counts of child abuse and one count of leaving the scene of an accident stemming from the Aug. 21, 2005, incident on a South Los Angeles soccer field.
Mayerson said Phillips, 30, got into an argument with several young men after the pickup football game in Exposition Park. He left the park, but returned and drove a black Honda onto the field, allegedly running into a group of young males. Three were hit, including two aged 14 and 15, the district attorney's office said.
``His conduct displayed a certain stupidity and what he did was clearly an assault on these young boys,'' Mayerson said. ``The salient part of the evidence was that the defendant was in a snit when he left the field.''
Phillips, who has a felony conviction for making criminal threats, faces more than 13 years in prison if convicted of all counts, said Deborah Brazil, a deputy district attorney.
He was being held on $350,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraignment March 15.
Phillips has a history of trouble with the law dating to his years at Nebraska, where he was one of the nation's top college football players.
The St. Louis Rams made him the sixth overall pick in the 1996 NFL draft, but released him for insubordination in 1997 after he played 25 games with them. Phillips signed with the Miami Dolphins later in the 1997 season, but was released after pleading no contest to hitting a woman in a nightclub.
He was the top offensive player in NFL Europe in 1999 after setting league records for rushing and touchdowns with the Barcelona Dragons. Phillips signed with the San Francisco 49ers later that year, but was released for missing a practice. He also has played in the Canadian Football League.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
