A member of the SF State men's soccer team was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest.

University spokesperson Ellen Griffin said Department of Public Safety Officer Zachary Donohue responded to a call regarding an assault at approximately 1:30 a.m. in the commons area in front of the Village Market and Pizzeria.

19-year-old assault suspect Kyle Ortiz, freshman, attempted to flee from officers during questioning and was subsequently wrestled to the ground and handcuffed, according to Griffin.

Ortiz was taken to the San Francisco men's jail at 850 Bryant St. and charged with misdemeanor drunk in public and resisting or obstructing a police officer. Charges are pending the San Francisco District Attorney's review.

No assault charges have been filed.

According to Ortiz, the initial incident was a misunderstanding wherein another male student tackled him and he defended himself by pushing him off. Ortiz, a first-year member of the Gator men's soccer team, said he ran from the police to "avoid trouble."

Ortiz was deemed intoxicated by university police and taken into custody. According to Griffin, no blood-alcohol content test is required for a drunk in public charge, and "objective symptoms and suspects' demeanor are used to establish criteria."

SF State's athletic department displays their disciplinary practices on alcohol-related incidents on their Web site. The policy states that an alcohol-related offense such as public intoxication and underage possession "constitutes grounds for disciplinary action," and that "sanctions can range from disciplinary probation to expulsion."

"It depends what happened in the alcohol-related incident," said Michael Simpson, SF State's athletic director.

Simpson explained the reason for the vagueness of the policy, saying that all aspects of an offense are considered.

Considerations include whether the athlete was of legal drinking age, whether the incident was on campus, whether it was the athlete's first offense and whether the incident was related to an athletic event.

"All this comes into play," he said.