I’ve unearthed some interesting coincidences involving the Jeremiah Masoli theft accusation and the severe beating of Oregon kicker Rob Beard.
(Assault suspect Hawkins, Masoli accuser Wolfard were H.S. teammates)
The most recent suspect arrested in connection to Beard’s beating is a 19-year-old named Kirby Hawkins. Hawkins happened to be teammates with Max Wolfard on the Lincoln High School football team in Portland in 2007. Wolfard is the student who accused University of Oregon star quarterback Masoli of stealing two laptops and a guitar from him out of a fraternity house.
Here are the publicly-accessible operator dispatch logs from the Eugene Police Dept. from that night (early Sunday morning of Jan. 24):
The call for the Beard assault got to police at 12:31 am. The call for the alleged Masoli theft got to police at 12:48 am. Exactly 17 minutes apart.
Here’s a map where the two incidents occurred:
1) Masoli theft accuser and a Beard assault suspect were high school football teammates.
2) Calls for the two incidents came in to police 17 minutes apart.
3) The two incidents happened three blocks apart.
So are those coincidences noteworthy?
Not according to Masoli and Beard teammate Jeff Palmer. Palmer, a long snapper on the Oregon football team, told John Hunt of the PORTLAND OREGONIAN on Monday that the two incidents weren’t related.
“I know for a fact that they’re not related,” said Palmer, a friend of Beard’s and (Mike) Bowlin’s who was not in the brawl but who visited Beard in the hospital early Sunday morning.
Palmer said Bowlin and Beard had attended a party that evening, but the football players named in the alleged theft were not there.
Hunt also noted: “The closeness in time and in distance - the incidents were just a few blocks from each other - led some to speculate that retaliation was involved.“
Despite what Palmer said to the Oregonian, we have no confirmation from police yet that the Beard assault and Masoli theft accusation are unrelated.
UPDATE (8:34p ET): Hawkins reportedly transferred in 2007 from Lincoln High School to Parkrose High School but all indications are that Wolfard and Hawkins did cross paths at Lincoln. Wolfard was a senior at Lincoln in 2007 and Hawkins a junior before he transferred.
None of what I’ve posted here is to suggest that there was a connection between the two incidents, I’m just setting out the chess pieces for the record.
8:09 pm on January 29th, 2010
Interesting bit of gum shoe detective work there brooks. Well done.
8:34 pm on January 29th, 2010
So, are you claiming to have been the one who discovered this link? I only ask because I have seen this high school team mate link mentioned in other places since last night on other forums specifically on Oregonlive.com and addictedtoquack.com it just seems like you are claiming to have made the big scoop all on your own, so either others are taking credit for your work, or…
8:50 pm on January 29th, 2010
I know FOR A FACT they are not related as well. Coming from a student at the U of O who knows whats going on, they had absolutely ZERO to do with each other.
10:00 pm on January 29th, 2010
goducks: I don’t understand. If you are the U of O student who KNOWS what’s IS going on, perhaps you ought to schedule an interview appointment with EPD or Rob Moseley or someone reputable and safe from your perspective (brooks?) and let’s get this thing cleared up. Right now, from my perspective, someone claiming to be a UofO student has marginal credibility.
Perhaps also, from your point of view, the incidents ARE unrelated; from another pov, which you at this time cannot see or imagine, they are related and relevant.
Or, we got another ‘coincidence’ like Jack Ruby getting killed. I mean, it’s possible, right?
10:10 pm on January 29th, 2010
Brooks presents both sides. Everyone calm down.
Last I checked, he gave no opinion on the matter.
10:56 pm on January 29th, 2010
Who said that he did give an opinion?
11:24 pm on January 29th, 2010
this is very timely for letter of intent signing day, and I think they should be looking for who paid these guys to cause trouble on the oregon campus. It looks like it might have worked for owa. Might be wrong too, but worth it for investigators to check into.
11:53 pm on January 29th, 2010
I’m with a lot of people who think this affair smells of rat - but I have to ask if it’s responsible journalism to harbor further conjecture and innuendo? Let EPD do its job, let everyone in on what they found out and issue their decision as to any legal proceedings - against ANYBODY.
That being said, I heard that . . ..
12:28 am on January 30th, 2010
“The German asparagus are fabulous !” …
1:58 am on January 30th, 2010
these woman are beautiful!
10:55 am on January 30th, 2010
“let the police do its job”
my god, how naive can you be?
4:04 am on February 2nd, 2010
Also, Wayne Kohnke, who called Masoli and Embry “Hoodrats” was on that team
6:04 pm on February 2nd, 2010
all this is bullshit.. the two different incidents didnt have anything to do with eachother.. i kno this for a fact!.. whoever stole laptops dont have nothing to do with kirby!!! and the guy that was in hospital, i sure hope his friend tells the real story of what happened that night cuz they are making my friend kirby seem like the worst guy in the world.. and its a bunch of bullshit if you ask me.. im not sayin it was right and i do hope the guy is okay!
1:14 am on February 5th, 2010
I am kirbys close cousin and i grew up with him i never would expect somethimg like this from him. neither did my family, kirby is a great dude and my role model when it comes to hoops all i know is this stuff you cant be accusing shit trying to be right cause whos it gonna help since 20 ppl said it first