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and loud" by the time police arrived. Officer Brandon Stec was in an alley behind the house when he saw five men jumping over the backyard fence, and he ordered them to stop, according to court documents. They ran. Stec chased one of them, Rees, back to the front of the house and into the street. A nearby taxi driver heard Stec yelling and blocked the street with his cab to allow the officer to catch Rees. graded to a misdemeanor after the Lake Forest, Ill., native spent the better part of a day in jail waiting to be seen by a judge. A felony charge carries far more severe pen- alties, including the possibility of being at least temporarily dismissed from school. Still, the two misdemeanor counts of quarterback, Rees has been known both for his poise and mistakes. He threw 14 interceptions in 13 appearances last fall to go along with his 20 touchdown passes. Irish head coach Brian Kelly said the mis- takes were unacceptable after this year's Blue-Gold Game, in which Rees threw another interception. The court of public opinion has been much more harsh. Rees' next move was a mistake far In his first two seasons as Notre Dame's greater than any he has made on the foot- ball field. The prosecutor's statement al- leges that Rees "used his right knee to hit Officer Stec in the lower chest area, knocking the wind out of him, making it difficult to breathe. The cab driver then grabbed [Rees] in order to keep him from running away. "Officer Stec then also grabbed [Rees]. Instead of complying with demands that he desist with his attempt to get away, he began struggling with Officer Stec and the cab driver." who — according to neighbors — contin- ued to struggle until he was in the back of a squad car. Police initially booked Rees on charges of felony battery to an officer for his panicked reaction. That was down- Police eventually pepper sprayed Rees, resisting law enforcement and one count of battery make Rees' future murkier than the minor consumption of alcohol charge. Rees pleaded not guilty to all four charges in his initial court appearance and did not answer questions on his way out of the courthouse. His attorney, George Horn from the South Bend firm of Barnes & Thornburg, did not respond to an inter- view request. Rees is scheduled to return to court on July 17. Calabrese's first trip in front of a judge is scheduled for June 21. He faces one misdemeanor intimidation charge. The 21-year-old senior from Verona, N.J., alleg- edly threatened police as they attempted to subdue Rees. According to court docu- ments, he told one officer, "My people will get you." Others at the party tried to bring Calabrese back into the house, but he broke away from them and repeated the threat. On the field, Calabrese split time at in- side linebacker with fellow senior Dan Fox last season. He has made 97 career tackles, and coaches said following spring practice that they expected him to con- tinue to share his spot with Fox. Calabrese will likely have less of a punishment from the team than Rees, but Kelly has not said anything publicly about possible conse- quences yet. "I am aware of last night's incident in- volving two of our football players. I am JUNE/JULY 2012 44