A Raleigh, N.C., judge issued an bench warrant for U.S. international Roy Lassiter on Aug. 30 after denying his lawyer’s request to delay a hearing on 3-year-old charges of breaking-and-entering and forgery.
Lassiter’s lawyer, Conrad Airall, told Judge William Creech that Lassiter was in Costa Rica — where he’s been playing for the last three years, most recently with Alajuela — and would arrive in North Carolina the following day, according to a court official.
“The judge said he should have been in court and issued the order for arrest,” Donna Kulpa of the Wake County District Attorney’s Office told the Associated Press.
“I was there at 3 o’clock, but the judge left sick” Lassiter explained over the phone the next day. “Now my lawyer is working it out with the DA.”
Lassiter had announced he would play for the Brazilian club Santos while waiting for the startup of Major League Soccer, but that transfer looks in doubt after he was forced to surrender his passport and his bail was doubled to $10,000.
He was arrested Aug. 8 after a Raleigh police detective read in the newspaper about Lassiter’s 2-1 winning goal over Benfica in the Parmalat Cup.
His spot on the U.S. national team does not appear in jeopardy as all the scheduled games this fall will be on home soil: Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C, Oct. 8; Yugoslavia in San Jose, Calif. Nov. 12; South Africa in Florida Dec. 17.
by Soccer America correspondent Jerry Hawkins