GREELEY, Colo. -- Northern Colorado's backup punter asked a friend to lie about his whereabouts the night he is accused of stabbing a rival teammate, according to a police affidavit obtained Thursday that suggests the player may have had an accomplice.
Mitch Cozad of Wheatland, Wyo., remained free on $30,000 bond on suspicion of second-degree assault. Weld County prosecutors said they have until Sept. 22 to formally charge him.
Cozad is accused of stabbing starting punter Rafael Mendoza in his kicking leg Monday night outside Mendoza's apartment in nearby Evans. Mendoza was treated and released from the hospital, but he will miss Saturday's game at Texas State.
"I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support," Mendoza said Thursday in a statement released by the school. "I want everyone to know I am doing well and recovering."
Cozad has been suspended from the university and evicted from his dorm room. He has not spoken publicly about the incident. Weld County officials said he has been granted permission to stay at his mother's home in Wheatland, where no one answered the door Thursday.
The 3½-page arrest affidavit outlined a plot that had taken shape over at least a week and included reference to a second suspect, though none has been publicly identified by police.
Fellow kicker David Dyches said Cozad hated Mendoza and his No. 1 position as punter for the Bears. Another kicker, Michael York, told police he provided Mendoza's address to Cozad last week, thinking he was interested in a rental apartment.
A friend of Cozad's, Angela Vogel, told police she was asked to lie to authorities and the suspect's mother about his whereabouts Monday night.
As she spoke with police Tuesday, the affidavit said, Cozad was allegedly text messaging her and leaving phone messages asking her things like, "What did you say?"
Mendoza had spotted a suspicious man in his parking lot last Thursday, and he sped into his apartment. Then, on Monday, he was returning home from study hall and was jumped from behind.
According to the affidavit, Mendoza was stabbed while he was on the ground and suffered a one-inch puncture wound. He described the suspect as a man dressed in black sweat pants and a black hooded sweatshirt cinched together to reveal only the eyes; police say they have recovered a similar sweatshirt from Cozad's apartment.
Later that evening, a liquor store employee called police and said two men were removing tape from the front and rear license plates of a car in the parking lot. Once removed, the employee saw the license plate number read "8-KIKR," helping lead police to the Cozad family.
No details of a second suspect have been disclosed by authorities.
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