Date: 10/28/2008
By DAVID MERCER
Associated Press Writer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) _ A former University of Illinois gymnastics coach resigned because of personal issues, including a pending drunk-driving charge in Wisconsin, and is cooperating with an investigation into a video camera found in a locker room, his attorney said Tuesday.
Jon Valdez, who trained Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Justin Spring, resigned as an assistant coach from the Illinois men’s team on Oct. 17.
“I can’t go into the details of his resignation other than to say he was undergoing some serious personal issues, and that was one of them,” said attorney Lance Northcutt of Chicago, who is not representing Valdez in the DWI case.
Court records from Waukesha County in Wisconsin indicate the 39-year-old Valdez was charged with operating while under the influence after a Sept. 18 arrest. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Someone who answered a call to Valdez’s cell phone Tuesday hung up and a real estate agent who answered the door at his Urbana home said he wasn’t there. The agent said she was showing the home, which is for sale.
Northcutt and university officials have declined to say whether the video camera investigation was a factor in Valdez’s resignation, which the attorney said was voluntary. University police hope to finish their investigation into the video camera by the end of the week and send it to Champaign County prosecutors, who would decide whether to file charges.
“Right now, no charges have been filed. And we have not been told by anyone that charges will be filed,” Northcutt said.
A student found the small wireless camera inside a locker Sept. 25, university police Lt. Roy Acree said. It was pointed out of the locker through a small opening and “would be able to capture images of people changing their clothes,” he said.
He declined to say which locker room the camera was in, other than that it wasn’t a room used by students outside the university’s athletics programs. Acree said the camera wasn’t transmitting images to a computer or over the Internet, but wouldn’t say whether investigators found any stored images.
Northcutt declined to discuss the investigation’s details.
“We are cooperating with the investigation, and will continue to cooperate as best as we can,” he said.
In the DWI case, Valdez was pulled over Sept. 18 by a Wisconsin state trooper in Brookfield, Wis., about 10 miles west of Milwaukee, according to the Waukesha County District Attorney’s office. A spokeswoman for the office said Valdez has no prior criminal record.
He pleaded not guilty on Oct. 20 and is due in court again on Nov. 17.
Attorney Christopher Strohbehn of Waukesha, Wis., is representing Valdez in that case. He didn’t immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.
Illinois head gymnastics coach Yoshi Hayasaki said Tuesday that he didn’t think Valdez resigned over the arrest, but referred further questions to Assistant Athletic Director Kent Brown. Brown declined to comment on the resignation.
Valdez had been on the Illini coaching staff since 2000 and is Spring’s personal coach. He accompanied Spring to the Beijing Olympics, where the U.S. men won the bronze medal.
Efforts to reach Spring and several members of the Illinois men’s team Tuesday by telephone and e-mail were not successful.
“USA Gymnastics will follow the progress of this investigation and address the issue accordingly,” USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny said.
On April 25, the UI announced Valdez had been promoted from assistant coach and would succeed Hayasaki as head coach when Hayasaki retired following the 2008-09 season. The university now says it is looking for an assistant to replace Valdez.
Associated Press National Writer Nancy Armour contributed to this report from Chicago.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.