Owens pleads guilty in '97 assault of cops

The assaults were part of a notorious incident near the FIJI house. In a surprise move, Warnell "Yode" Owens pleaded guilty yesterday to attacking four University Police officers in a notorious October 1997 incident that brought at least 50 police officers from several forces to the area near the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house on Locust Walk. Under a settlement agreement, Owens, a 27-year-old Harvard University alumnus and former Crimson football player, was sentenced to eight years probation and 1,600 hours of community service at the University of Pennsylvania Police Athletic League. Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley also approved a $10,000 fine. Prosecutors dropped the more-severe charge of aggravated assault, as well as charges of resisting arrest and other lesser counts, as part of the deal. In April, Owens' attorney, Paul Hetznecker, said that Owens would plead not guilty to the charges. The guilty plea came as Owens' trial was about to begin yesterday. "We thought that it was the most appropriate resolution for the case," said Assistant District Attorney Nigel Green, the case's prosecutor, of the plea agreement. "We were looking for a sentence that would provide some benefit to the community in addition to addressing the violations of the defendant." Owens and Hetznecker were not immediately available for comment after the proceeding. The 1,600 hours of community service are equivalent to about 9 1/2 months' worth of 40-hour work weeks. Owens, a Teaneck, N.J., resident, will perform the community service and pay the fine over the eight years of his probation, which consists of four consecutive sentences of two years for each count of simple assault. Yesterday's development concludes another chapter in an incident made controversial by accusations of police brutality surrounding what happened to one of Owens' companions at almost the same time on the night of October 30, 1997. The incident began when Owens and his friends, then-College freshman Bill Sofield and his brother Richard Sofield, a U.S. attorney, were arguing loudly outside the FIJI house, according to police. All were allegedly drunk. As a University Police officer tried to arrest the men for disorderly conduct, Owens fled through the house toward 36th and Walnut streets. Outside, he proceeded to repeatedly punch two officers -- as well as two relief officers who showed up at the scene -- rendering two of them unconscious, according to police accounts. Police finally subdued him with nightsticks and mace, and all five ended up in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with varying degrees of injuries. The entire incident was controversial, however, for what happened to Bill Sofield inside the FIJI house. Many FIJI brothers accused the police of using excessive force to arrest Sofield. One FIJI brother claimed in a statement at the time that the University Police punched and elbowed Bill Sofield after throwing him over a table in the incident. Last January, a judge acquitted Bill Sofield of resisting arrest. Earlier, his brother's disorderly conduct charge was dismissed after he attended a seminar on such behavior. A Division of Public Safety investigation found no wrongdoing by any officers involved. The Sofield family has until October 30, 1999 to file a civil lawsuit alleging police brutality. Penn Police Chief Maureen Rush will be the "contact person" for Owens' community service at the PAL, Green said. Rush could not be immediately reached for comment. The Penn Police Athletic League, an after-school program for children ages six to 18, currently operates out of the Tucker Center at the Alexander Wilson Elementary School at 46th Street and Woodland Avenue.

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