A.M.BRIEFING: Tuesday

Women accused of trying to steal lingerie

Two women were stopped Sunday afternoon after they allegedly tried to steal lingerie from the Bon-Ton department store in the Nittany Mall. State College police did not give the value of the lingerie or identify the women, but said they face retail theft charges.

N.J. man found guilty of DUI, resisting arrest

A New Jersey man was convicted by a jury Monday of DUI, resisting arrest and several summary citations after police say he was drunk and disorderly in April the night he was seen driving erratically, then refused to cooperate with police.

Police say 20-year-old Scott D. Ruzal, of Fort Lee, N.J., had a blood alcohol level of .280 percent when police obtained a search warrant for his blood, court papers say.

A jury found him guilty after a trial in front of President Judge David E. Grine. Assistant District Attorney Karen Kuebler was prosecuting.

Ruzal was arrested April 27 after refusing to cooperate with a portable breathalyzer and a blood test. Police say Ruzal was kicking and hitting police, refusing to cooperate, and had to be restrained, court papers say.

Police found him at the East parking deck on Penn State’s campus near his car after a another driver reported Ruzal was driving erratically, documents say. Police caught up with him as he was exiting his car, court papers say. His attorney is State Col-lege- based Scott Pletcher.

Football player cited for disorderly conduct

A Penn State football defensive tackle has been cited for disorderly conduct after allegedly throwing a punch during a shoving match Feb. 28 with passers-by on the 100 block of South Atherton Street, police said.

State College police cited 21-year-old Jared T. Odrick after they say the alleged victims looked up Odrick’s photo on the Penn State football team Web site and then called police to report the incident.

Odrick was the only one of the five people involved who was cited after the 1:40 a.m. incident. The citation was filed Friday at District Judge Jonathan Grine’s office.

The argument allegedly started as a verbal altercation near the entrance to the Graduate apartment building at 138 S. Atherton St., police said. It then turned into a pushing match and Odrick threw one closed-fist punch, police said.

Odrick left the scene, police said, and police were later contacted after several people found Odrick’s photo online. Alcohol is suspected to have been a factor.

Sprinkler helps extinguish frat fire

A small fire at a fraternity was put out by residents with the help of a nearby sprinkler that activated, Centre Region senior fire inspector Tim Knisely said.

“It’s significant because it is small, really,” Knisely said. “Normally they don’t seem like an event but it’s a story because it wasn’t out of control.” Knisely said the fire started around 8:15 p.m. Sunday night at Beta Sigma Beta fraternity at 255 E. Fair-mount Ave.

It was the first fire in a fraternity that had been mandated to install a sprinkler system when State College Borough Council passed a law requiring the devices in 2003. The fire started outside a closet of a bedroom where a resident had left a tapestry on a heated lamp unattended.

A smoke detector alarm activated and alerted residents, who began evacuating. Some residents used a fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire. While putting it out, one of the five sprinkler heads in the room also activated and helped to completely put out the fire, Knisely said.