Freshman defensive end Andru Pulu suspended indefinitely from Washington football team

Defensive end Andru Pulu has been suspended indefinitely from the Washington football team for a violation of team rules, coach Steve Sarkisian announced Tuesday in a statement released by the school.

The release said the UW athletic department and coach will have no further comment on the matter.

The Seattle Times has learned that Pulu was allegedly involved in an altercation at an off-campus party late Saturday night in which another student was injured.

After The Times requested a police report detailing an assault investigation involving Pulu, details of the incident were faxed to the newspaper with the names of the alleged suspect, victim and witnesses blacked out.

According to the report, a 22-year-old man was attacked after trying to break up a fight between two people he didn't know at a house party just north of the UW campus. He was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose and possible check fracture, according to the police report.

Police spokesman Det. Jeff Kappel said homicide detectives are working the case, but no arrests have been made, he said.

An officer wrote in the report that he was dispatched to University of Washington Medical Center just after 3 a.m. Sunday and interviewed the injured 22-year-old man in the emergency room.

He told the officer he was at a party in the 5000 block of 15th Avenue Northeast and saw a man arguing with another person just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, the report says. He tried to break up the fight, telling the man, "It's not that big of a deal," at which point the man grabbed the 22-year-old's neck, telling him, "It is that big of a deal," according to the police report.

The 22-year-old, who said he didn't recognize the man, "does not remember anything" after that, the report says.

According to two witnesses, the man struck the 22-year-old in the face, knocked him to the ground, and stomped on his right temple, the police report says.

The man then "left in an unknown direction," according to the report. He is described as a light-skinned black male, 18 to 21 years old, 6 feet 1 and 250 pounds with a muscular build.

The 22-year-old "has a broken nose and possibly a fractured cheek bone," the officer wrote. "I observed severe swelling to the left side" of his face and "a boot print on his right temple."

Pulu, a graduate of Federal Way High School, will be a sophomore in 2010 and was expected to contend for significant playing time, if not a starting role.

Pulu, 6-1, 251 pounds, played in 11 games as a freshman in 2009, making two tackles, and was credited with half of a sack against Idaho. He also played regularly on the kickoff-return team.

Washington is scheduled to begin spring practice March 30.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com; Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com