Baldwin Stuck With a Bad Lie

NORTHRIDGE —  Running back Shane Blakey got caught in gunfire. Cal State Northridge football Coach Dave Baldwin got caught in a lie.

Blakey, a transfer from Antelope Valley College, will use a redshirt year this season at Northridge to recover from shotgun wounds suffered Aug. 9 at a party in West Hills. But that wasn’t the story Baldwin released Monday.

Baldwin, in an attempt to protect one of his players from adverse publicity, initially told reporters that Blakey would sit out the season after undergoing an appendectomy earlier this month. Baldwin and Athletic Director Paul Bubb said the story was concocted by former Northridge sports information assistant Scott Yoffe, who last week took a public relations job with the San Diego Chargers.

“It was an error in judgment,” Bubb said. “It’s not our policy to supply misinformation.

“We had one person [Yoffe] who thought what he did was in the best interest of the athlete. Dave Baldwin was trying to protect [Blakey] and I don’t blame him for that. But the way he did it I don’t agree with.

“A sports information person created the story. That’s inexperience.”

Blakey, 20, was shot in the left side while standing in the backyard of a private residence while attending a party, said Sgt. Jeri Weinstein of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division in Reseda.

Blakey, who attended Northridge’s practice Wednesday, said he spent five days at Northridge Hospital after undergoing surgery Aug. 9 to have shotgun pellets removed from his side.

Weinstein said Blakey did not know his assailant, who turned himself into police Aug. 10. Police did not provide the suspect’s name. Weinstein said Blakey did not know the suspect and the shooting was not gang-related.

Blakey said he was shot after arguing about a cover fee charged at the party. Police had broken up the party shortly after Blakey and his friends arrived, and Blakey was attempting to get a refund on his cover charge, he said.

“We started to leave but one of my friends had stuck around to argue, and they had surrounded him,” Blakey said. “I got in front of [my friend] and we were leaving the backyard. The next thing I know I was shot and running down the street.”

Blakey was driven from the party by friends, who were trying to get him to a hospital. But Blakey felt faint and had trouble breathing. He had his friends pull into the parking lot of a video store. Blakey ran inside and passed out on the floor, prompting store employees to call an ambulance.

Blakey said he went along with Baldwin’s explanation of why he would miss the season.

“The coaches thought that it would be the best way to protect me,” Blakey said. “I’m not too familiar with the policies for protecting a program but I don’t think it was a bad decision.

“It could have been handled a different way, but I appreciated them helping me and trying to keep my name out of the press as a shooting victim.”

Baldwin acknowledged he made a mistake by releasing a false story, but said he was trying to protect Blakey’s privacy.

“I think the story is that Coach Baldwin is wrong,” he said. “I should have said he had abdominal surgery and not an appendix [operation]. I don’t think I was the one who came up with appendix, but I am the head coach and I take responsibility for that.”

Yoffe could not be reached for comment.

Baldwin also told his team that he was wrong.

The coach’s story that Blakey underwent an appendectomy appeared in the Valley section of The Times on Wednesday and created some confusion at Antelope Valley College, the player’s former school. When Antelope Valley football Coach Brent Carder saw Blakey on campus Wednesday, he asked why he hadn’t waited until after the season to have the appendectomy.

“He said, ‘No coach, I got shot,’ ” Carder said. “I said, ‘You got shot? What the hell is going on?’ I was surprised what he told me.”

Blakey, a junior who was expected to compete for a starting job this season, will have two years of eligibility remaining. He transferred to Northridge last spring after rushing for 605 yards and seven touchdowns last season at Antelope Valley, earning All-Foothill Conference honors.

Blakey attended Kennedy High in Denver and played one season at Mesa College in Arizona before transferring to Antelope Valley.