UNC backup punter accused in stabbing

Sophomore allegedly attacked team starter in apartment lot

Ivan Moreno, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 14, 2006 at midnight

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EVANS - A University of Northern Colorado football player, suspected of stabbing a teammate who beat him out for the team's starting punter job, has been kicked off the team and suspended from the school, while police investigate the incident, campus officials said Wednesday.

Mitch Cozad, 21, a sophomore and the team's backup punter, allegedly followed teammate Rafael Mendoza Monday night to the parking lot of his apartment complex, in the 2700 block of Crescent Cove, and attacked him from behind after he got out of his car, said Evans police Lt. Gary Kessler.

"(Mendoza) saw someone approach him, but didn't really know what was going on," Kessler said. The 21-year-old was stabbed in his right kicking leg before his attacker fled. Mendoza, of Thornton, was treated and released Monday night from the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.

Cozad was arrested on campus Tuesday evening after interviews with friends, comments he made, and the car he was driving Monday night tied him to the crime, Kessler said. Cozad posted $30,000 bond Wednesday. He is facing charges of second-degree assault and is scheduled to be advised of the charge Friday in Weld County Court.

"The only motive we've identified so far is the fact that at some point in time they were competing for the No. 1, and we know that the victim had it, and the suspect didn't," Kessler said.

The assault is reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 1994, attack on Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan that was eventually linked to rival Tonya Harding.

"It's kind of a strange situation," Kessler said.

Cozad joined the team in July but had not played this season, said UNC football coach Scott Downing. Mendoza, a junior, has punted nine times, averaging 37.6 yards during the team's first two games.

A week before the attack, Cozad asked Downing how he was doing on the team.

Downing responded that he needed to work harder and that Mendoza was outperforming him, according to a police affidavit.

"At this level of football we have competition at every position," Downing said at a news conference Wednesday. "So it's nothing new to have competition. I can't make any conjecture of what (Cozad) was thinking."

Downing said he doesn't know when Mendoza will play again, but he is not scheduled to start in Saturday's game against Texas State.

Mendoza told CBS 4 News Wednesday night he's grateful for everyone's support and wished his team good luck in their next game.

"For all of those who are wondering how I'm doing, I am recovering and I'm not going to let it get me down," Mendoza said. "I'm looking forward to getting back and playing with my team."

Police interviews with friends and Cozad's teammates indicate he was upset at not having the starting spot on the team, and police said Mendoza said days before the attack that he saw someone matching the description of his attacker watching him from the parking lot of his apartment complex.

According to the arrest affidavit chronicling Monday's attack, a man punched Mendoza in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground, and stabbed him on his upper right thigh .

Kessler said Mendoza told a passer-by, "I've just been stabbed, follow that person," as he pointed to someone wearing a black hooded sweatshirt running away to a black Dodge Charger. The affidavit said the passer-by saw another another male wearing a black sweatshirt waiting for the attacker, waving his hands and flashing the car lights on and off.

Police don't know who the passenger is and don't have a good description of him, but he may face criminal charges if he is identified, Kessler said.

The witness was able to follow the car but lost track of it after he told police the direction it was headed, Kessler said.

Cozad and a passenger were later spotted at an Evans liquor store, where an employee saw both men get out of the car to peel off tape apparently used to cover the license plates, Kessler said. Thinking it odd, the employee wrote down the license plate number - listed as "8-KIKR" - and called police.

Investigators were able to trace the license plate number to Cozad's mother, Susie, who lives in Wheatland, Wyo. She confirmed her son drives the car.

When police interviewed Cozad at his Turner Hall residence on campus, he told them his car wasn't where he had parked it. But when he pressed the alarm button on his key remote, officers found his car parked in a corner of the Turner Hall parking lot. The officers found evidence that the plate numbers had been covered with tape, according to the affidavit.

Officers also found a black hooded sweatshirt in the closet of Cozad's dorm room.

Cozad agreed to be interviewed by police and told them where he was the night of the attack. But police said his statements were inconsistent with what teammates and friends told investigators. Police also said Cozad asked a friend to lie to police about where he was Monday night.

Another teammate told police that Cozad had asked him to tell him where Mendoza lived, Kessler said. According to the affidavit, one football player told police that Cozad "has an extreme hatred, competition, and jealousy for victim Rafael Mendoza and his No. 1 punting position on the UNC football team."

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