Arrested Vandy player allegedly had assaulted teammate
By MAURICE PATTON
Staff Writer
Kyle Keown, a four-year member of the Vanderbilt football team, was arrested late last week on charges of domestic assault and aggravated assault following an off-campus incident.
According to sworn affidavits obtained from the Metro Nashville Police Department, during the early-morning hours of Dec. 1, Keown began striking his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Treichel, in the Elliston Place apartment occupied by him and Commodores backup quarterback Richard Kovalcheck. When Kovalcheck intervened, Keown began hitting him.
After the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Kovalcheck struck Keown in self-defense, the 6-foot, 195-pound Keown
“then grabbed the victim by the groin, and began squeezing and pulling very intensely.â€
Keown eventually released Kovalcheck, and the two went to separate bedrooms in the apartment. Keown then entered Kovalcheck’s bedroom through a balcony entrance “holding a large knife above his head. The victim stated that the defendant told him that he was going to kill him.â€
At that point, Kovalcheck and Treichel “fled the residence and notified police.â€
When police arrived, Treichel, a senior member of the Vanderbilt women’s swimming team, did not want to press charges and was apparently uninjured, according to the affidavits.
Kovalcheck had some dried blood in his nose after being struck by Keown, and “also appeared to be in pain from his groin injury.†Keown had left the scene.
Keown joined the Vanderbilt program in 2003 as a punter and was redshirted, then saw action in two games during the ’04 season and four in ’05. His last performance was in relief of the injured Bryant Hahnfeldt, when he averaged 38.8 yards on four second-half punts in the Commodores’ 28-24 win at Tennessee.
Keown did not see any playing time during the just-concluded season, and though he had a year of football eligibility remaining, was not slated to return to the team for 2007.
Kovalcheck transferred to Vanderbilt this past summer after playing two years at — and graduating from — Arizona. In three games for the Commodores, he completed 10-of-14 passes for 63 yards.
Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson declined comment on the incident, referring inquiries to the school’s administration.
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:11 am