Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
WCU QB spends night in county prison
WEST CHESTER >> Andrew Michael Derr, the junior expected to start as quarterback for the West Chester University Golden Rams, was in Common Pleas Court Wednesday after an overnight stay in Chester County Prison.
On Tuesday, Derr had admitted to county Adult Probation officials that he had recently smoked marijuana and taken the drug Xanax, for which he did not have a prescription, after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct stemming from a bar brawl in the borough. President Judge Jacqueline Carroll Cody, who was presiding over his criminal case, consequently ordered that his bail be revoked, since he had violated its terms by using the drugs.
He was led from Cody’s courtroom in handcuffs and taken to prison for the night.
Derr had pleaded guilty to a summary charge of disorderly conduct for his behavior at a pop-
ular West Chester bar and restaurant, a move that the judge acknowledged was a generous break offered by the county District Attorney’s Office, since he had faced misdemeanor charges of escape, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness. But Cody vacated his 90-day probationary sentence after hearing of his admitted drug use.
The day before, Derr was projected at the WCU football media day as the player who would lead the Golden Rams’ team in the upcoming season.
Derr, 21, of Willow Grove was contrite when facing Cody on Wednesday, saying the night in prison had taught him a deep lesson. “I appreciate everything,” Derr, who was accompanied by his attorney, Daniel Bush of West Chester. “I thought about what you said about me influencing other people. I am usually a person who has his head on his shoulders, and it only took one night for me to realize that I can influence other people’s lives. “
Assistant District Attorney Andrew J. Davis, who prosecuted Derr’s case, told Cody that his office was willing to offer Derr the same plea and sentence that he had accepted on Tuesday. He will have to complete 90 days of court supervised probation, pay a $300 fine, complete a drug and alcohol evaluation, and stay away from the bar where he and two other acted out in March, Landmark Americana.
Davis said he had spoken with both the victim in the brawl — the restaurant manager — and with the arresting officers in the case, to see if they agreed with the sentence offered to Derr and his fellow Golden Rams teammate, Kyle Keyser. The prosecutor said the manager told him he did not want the case to haunt the men in the future, but did want some sort of court supervision.
Derr, who was dressed in a blue shirt and dark grey slacks and held in handcuffs and shackles during the brief proceeding Wednesday, was released from custody. He is due in WCU training camp Thursday.
According to the facts as detailed by Davis, Derr and Keyser, 21, of Garnet Valley, were out drinking with two other men, including Keyser’s brother Timothy Keyser, at Landmark at about 6:30 p.m. March 22, when they became loud and rowdy. The manager, Robert Stewart, asked them repeatedly to leave, but they refused.
At some point the confrontation turned physical, and Keyser pushed Stewart into a bar stool and poured a pitcher of beer on a table, as other customers looked on. The altercation drew officers not only from West Chester, but two surrounding area police departments.
Derr, who Davis said did not become physical during the incident, allegedly ran from the scene on foot and was chased by officers, police said. He later turned himself in to borough police after the others were taken into custody, and
was later released pending a summons after being photographed and fingerprinted.
Kyle Keyser, 21, of Garnet Valley, was a sophomore defensive back on the WCU football team, and his brother, Timothy Keyser, 24, also of Garnet Valley, was a wide receiver on the team who last played in 2013.
Kyle Keyser also pleaded guilty on Wednesday, to summary charges of disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, harassment, and criminal mischief. He was placed on one year’s probation, and ordered to undergo an alcohol evaluation, enroll in anger management classes, and complete 50 hours of community service.
Peter Kratsa, Kyle Keyser’s attorney, said his client had acted completely out of character the evening of the incident. He has no prior criminal history, unlike Derr, and is a dean’s list student at WCU. He is currently on probation at the school.
“This was a bad incident,” said Kyle Keyser, who expects to begin practice with the football team Thursday. “It didn’t look good for us in the community. I genuinely am embarrassed.”
Earlier, when the Keysers and Derr had waived their preliminary hearings on the charges, there was some thought the Keysers would be given an alternative sentencing disposition for the crimes that would allow them to erase their records eventually. That was rejected, however, but the prosecution in lieu of the summary plea.
Timothy Keyser, who is not a student at the university, is expected to enter a similar plea in the near future.
Derr, who appeared in nine games during the Golden Rams 2014 season, was a backup to starter Sean McCartney. He was 15-for-27, with four touchdowns and one interception, and has had a previous brush with the law in West Chester.
In May 2013, Derr was one of a group of students who were arrested in the wake of a small-scale riot off campus surrounding a large beer party that was being filmed for use by a party promotion firm, whose events had drawn scrutiny because of previous problems at other area campuses.
Derr, then 19, was charged with failure to disperse, forgery, underage drinking, and carrying a false ID on the afternoon of the party on South Walnut Street. Police said the party got out of hand when officers ordered its host to shut the event down, and students who had gathered in the street grew upset by the closure and failed to leave.
The crowd eventually grew unruly, with one person flipping a car over on its side, and another pouncing on a car hood as its driver tried to avoid the disturbance.
Derr was granted ARD in that case by the District Attorney’s Office and his record was later expunged.