Penn State Football Player Accepted into Diversionary Program for Assault Charge

A star Penn State football player who was charged with misdemeanor assault after a confrontation with a tow-truck driver has been accepted into a pre-trial intervention program for first-time offenders.

Abdul Carter, 20, was placed in a one-year Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program on Wednesday, Centre County Court Administrator Kendra Miknis confirmed.

The program gives non-violent offenders with no or limited prior criminal records an opportunity to have charges dismissed and their records expunged upon completion. Participants are those who lend themselves to rehabilitation rather than punishment, and they must abide by terms and conditions, including complying with supervision requirements and remaining arrest-free.

Centre County Judge Brian Marshall approved Carter’s acceptance into the program, which is offered on a case-by-case basis by the district attorney’s office.

Carter will also be required to complete community service and an anger management course, Miknis said.

A junior defensive end for the Nittany Lions, Carter was accused of pulling the driver from the tow truck and throwing him to the ground in March outside a College Township student apartment complex. He was charged in April with one second-degree misdemeanor account of simple assault and one summary count of harassment.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by State College police, the driver from Halfmoon Towing was attempting to tow Carter’s 2022 Dodge Challenger from the lot at Aspen State College on Squirrel Drive for being parked without a permit just after midnight on March 16.

Carter said he wanted to be sure his car wasn’t being stolen and questioned the driver’s authority to tow it, according to the affidavit. The driver told Carter his company had had a contract to enforce parking violations at the apartment complex, and that Carter would need to provide his name and address and pay a fee for the car to be released.

After Carter refused to provide the information, police wrote, the driver resumed the process of hooking up the car for towing. As the driver returned to the tow truck, Carter told him he was going to call 911 and used his forearm to block the driver from getting inside, according to the affidavit.

The driver, police wrote, grabbed a metal bar off the back of the truck and yelled at Carter to back away, which he did. When the driver got inside the tow truck, witness video showed that Carter wrapped his arms around the man’s abdomen and forcefully pulled multiple times to break his grip from the steering wheel, according to the affidavit.

Carter then carried the driver across the lot to a grassy area, where he threw him to the ground, police wrote.

Both men then jogged back to the truck, where the driver picked up from the ground a cell phone he believed might be his. Carter grabbed the man again and “is seen on video controlling the victim with one arm over the top of the victim’s shoulder while his other hand is holding his sweatshirt,” police wrote. The driver tossed the phone when he realized it wasn’t his, at which point Carter took him to the ground and held him down, according to the affidavit.

Video showed Carter allowing the driver to get up, but then held him back again when the man tried to return to the truck, police wrote. Carter released the man when a witness said she called 911, but continued to block the driver’s side door, according to the affidavit.

The driver went to the hospital for soreness the next day and an X-ray revealed he had a non-displaced rib fracture, police wrote.

A rising junior who is expected to be a starter for the Nittany Lions in 2024, Carter was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and started every game at linebacker for Penn State last year. During the offseason, he moved to defensive end and played in limited action during the Blue-White spring game on April 13, about a month after the incident and 10 days before charges were filed.

“We are aware of the charges against Abdul Carter. These alleged actions do not reflect the values and standards of our program and will be addressed,” Penn State Athletics wrote in a statement in April. “We will not comment any further as this is an ongoing legal matter.”