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Heytvelt denied mushrooms were his, police say

Thomas Clouse and Steve Bergum
Staff writers
February 21, 2007

Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor John Grasso officially charged Gonzaga University basketball player Josh Heytvelt on Tuesday with felony possession of a controlled substance.

However, Grasso sent the marijuana possession case against fellow player Theo Davis back to the Cheney Police Department.

"It was really kind of a negligible amount – maybe not even a gram" of marijuana, Grasso said. "Their prosecutor will have to make that determination" whether or not to charge Davis with the misdemeanor.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few, after Monday night's 87-67 rout of Portland, gave his players the day off Tuesday and was not available for comment.

But Bulldogs athletic director Mike Roth said the latest legal developments probably won't have any immediate effect on the players' suspensions.

"At the present time, I don't believe it is going to change our stance," Roth said. "Our stance, all along, has been to let the legal process, the university's Student Life involvement and the team situation – the three different aspects that are in play here – all run their course.

"Those two guys are still working through that, just like any other Gonzaga student would, so, athletically, we haven't changed where we're at with (the suspensions)."

Roth said Heytvelt, 20, and Davis, 21, are still enrolled in school and attending classes.

The case started just before midnight Feb. 9 when Cheney police Officer David Bailey saw a gold 2006 Chevy TrailBlazer driving with no taillights near the intersection of First Street and Simpson Parkway, police reports say. Records released Tuesday say the taillights were out because Heytvelt had not turned on his headlights.

After the traffic stop, two Eastern Washington University police officers arrived. One of those EWU officers walked to the rear of Heytvelt's vehicle and saw a bag of mushrooms in the cargo area, according to court records.

The officer said he saw the bag of mushrooms protruding out of a black backpack next to another backpack that had Heytvelt's name and jersey number embroidered on the front.

Bailey asked Heytvelt if the "psychedelic mushrooms" in the clear plastic baggie belonged to him.

"He told me they did not. I asked him if he was aware that they had been back there, and he denied any knowledge of them," Bailey wrote in his report.

Bailey then asked Heytvelt whether he knew who the "Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge" backpack belonged to, and Heytvelt "told me he believed it belonged to a friend of his who had borrowed his vehicle for a couple of days."

Three muffins, which later tests confirmed also contained hallucinogenic mushrooms, were found in a 2006 "Battle in Seattle – Gonzaga University" backpack with Heytvelt's name and jersey number embroidered on the front.

"Heytvelt told (Washington State Patrol) Trooper (Nick) Gerard that his friend, who he believed the mushrooms belonged to, also grew the psychedelic mushrooms in his home. When Gerard asked Heytvelt if he had personally seen this, he admitted that he had," Bailey wrote in his report.

However, the reports do not indicate whether Heytvelt identified the friend who he alleged grew the mushrooms.

Cheney police Sgt. Kelly Hembach said he heard about the traffic stop on the radio and was driving over to assist when he got a telephone call from Eastern Washington University basketball player Brittney Osborn.

"Osborn asked me what was going on as she was referring to the traffic stop," Hembach wrote in his report. "She asked why her friends were being arrested. She stated her friends from Gonzaga were coming out to her house to hang out. I told her I would find out what was going on and get back to her."

Osborn could not be reached for comment, and calls were not returned from the EWU athletic department.

EWU police Officer Christopher McMurtrey said he responded to the traffic stop and spoke to Davis, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the 2006 TrailBlazer.

"After Ofc. Bailey questioned Davis briefly and shut the door, Davis began making statements to me," McMurtrey wrote in his report. "He admitted to smoking marijuana at a party and said he had just one 'bong hit.' I told him that one bong hit is quite a bit and he then admitted to also smoking a 'blunt.' "

McMurtrey then asked Davis if he had any marijuana in his possession, and he replied, "Yes. I asked him where it was and he said it was in his upper left jacket pocket next to his lighter," the officer wrote. McMurtrey then found the partial cigarette that contained 0.2 grams of marijuana.

Officers found about 33 grams – just more than an ounce – of mushrooms in Heytvelt's backpack. Any amount of those drugs constitutes felony possession, Grasso said.

An arraignment date is expected as early as today, Grasso said. "We will then send a summons to Josh Heytvelt and his attorney, notifying them of the arraignment date."

That arraignment should come in the next two weeks.

Heytvelt's attorney, Dennis Thompson, could not be reached late Tuesday.

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