Nebraska suspends former Crusader

Advertiser News Services

Nebraska coach Frank Solich suspended Tamotu "Junior" Tagoa'i from the team indefinitely after the starting right guard was charged with assault in connection with a weekend incident.

Tagoa'i, a 1999 Saint Louis School graduate, was charged earlier in the day with misdemeanor assault and child neglect, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Joe Kelly said.

Both charges are punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

His next court date was not set.

A 23-year-old woman called police Friday evening and said Tagoa'i had grabbed her arm and she suffered bruises during a fight at an apartment in southwest Lincoln, Capt. Allen Soukup said.

Kelly said it is routine to charge someone with child neglect if a minor child is present when an assault occurs.

Tagoa'i, 23, was arrested in October 2001 on misdemeanor assault charges involving a fight with the same woman. Two months later, birth records indicate the woman give birth to Tagoa'i's daughter.

Tagoa'i, a junior from Hau'ula, Hawai'i, agreed to a pretrial diversion program in the 2001 case and the charge was dropped. The charge was refiled a year later after he failed to verify completion of a pretrial diversion program.