Female Cop Says Lacrosse Murder Suspect Once Threatened to Kill Her

UVA's nationally ranked Lacrosse teams decide to play in NCAA tournament.

ByABC News via logo
May 3, 2010, 2:33 PM

May 5, 2010— -- The University of Virginia lacrosse player charged with murdering his girlfriend was once Tasered by a female police officer because he became combative, shouted obscenities at her and threatened to kill her in a drunken rage.

The 2008 incident came to light amid reports that authorities discovered a red-stained shirt during a search earlier this week of accused murderer George Huguely's campus apartment.

Huguely, 22, is charged with killing his girlfriend, Yeardley Love. Among the items taken from Huguely's apartment was a letter addressed to the slain student. The two had recently gone through a bad break up.

Police took several other items from Huguely's home, including two laptops, a notebook and a pair of shorts, the Charlottesville Daily Progress reported.

This week's arrest wasn't the first for Huguely.

Huguely was arrested in November 2008 when he was found stumbling through traffic after a party at a friend's fraternity in Lexington, Va., Lexington Police Chief Al Thomas told ABCNews.com.

When confronted by Officer R.L. Moss, "Huguely became combative physically and starting shouting obscenities," said Thomas.

Moss, who Thomas described as a "petite" female officer, "deployed her Taser in order to gain control of Huguely," the chief said.

Moss told the Washington Post that Huguely threatened her.

"'He said: 'I'll kill you. I'll kill all of y'all. I'm not going to jail,'" Moss told the paper. Messages left for Moss by ABCNews.com were not immediately returned.

A Rockbridge, Va., courthouse clerk confirmed to ABC News that Huguely was charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest and public swearing. He received 60-day suspended sentence, six months probation, a $100 fine and was required to complete 50 hours of community service and attend substance abuse counseling. According to the clerk, Huguely completed all of these requirements.

Huguely had two other run-ins with the law. In September 2007 he was booked for reckless driving after speeding at 70 mph in a 55 mph zone. In November 2007, he was arrested for possession of alcohol as a minor when he was 19.

In the wake of the UVA murder, Huguely is being kept on 23-hour segregated lockdown in jail, allowed no visitors except his lawyer.

Huguely 22, confessed to police, according to search warrants in the case, that in the early morning hours Monday, he kicked in the door to Yeardley Love's bedroom and shook her violently, repeatedly banging her head against the wall.

Yeardley, also 22, was on the school's female varsity lacrosse team.

UVA's male lacrosse team is ranked No. 1 in the country and the women's team is ranked No. 5. The school has decided that the teams will both compete in the NCAA tournament for the national championship in Love's memory.

Click here to read the police report on George Huguely

"A part of their healing will be getting our students back into some of their routines. In the case of the women's and men's programs, our lacrosse teams will honor Yeardley by continuing their seasons," school Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said.

"I am proud of the dignified way in which our students and coaches have responded to such a traumatic situation," he added.

Love's body was found Monday after an early morning 911 call, face down on her pillow in a pool of blood. Her face was covered in scrapes and bruises, according to the warrant, and her right eye was swollen shut. A large bruise on the right side of her face "appears to have been caused by blunt force trauma," according to a police request for a search warrant.

The brutality of the crime moved Charlottesville, Va., Police Chief Timothy Longo nearly to tears.

"I'm a 47-year-old with children the age of both these individuals," he said. "You're looking at a child."