Oregon State linebacker Aiden Sullivan, the Beavers' top returning tackler heading into fall camp, is facing one felony count of second-degree assault and two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree assault stemming from an altercation that allegedly happened months before he was ever booked. Sullivan was arrested by the Corvallis Police Department and booked at Benton County Jail on August 10, then released the next day after his mother, Rahnna Sullivan, posted a $5,000 cash security deposit toward his $50,000 bail.
According to court records cited by The Bulletin, Sullivan allegedly punched Bruno Cerriteno-Vega in the face on April 5, causing him serious physical injury, and also injured Logan Craig Chastain during the same incident. Sullivan has pleaded not guilty to all three counts. As a condition of his release, he is barred from using or possessing intoxicants and from entering any establishment whose primary business is selling them.
The alleged altercation took place in early April during Oregon State's spring term, but the arrest and booking did not happen until August 10 — a gap of roughly four months that allowed Sullivan to keep practicing with the Beavers as recently as August 14, per Sports Illustrated. That timeline leaves open questions about when the university itself learned of the allegations and why Sullivan remained on the practice field for so long afterward, questions the program has yet to publicly answer.
A Mandatory Prison Term Looms Over the Case
The legal stakes attached to Sullivan's case go well beyond typical athletic discipline. Second-degree assault in Oregon is a Class B felony under state law, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and fines up to $250,000. But because the charge falls under Oregon's Ballot Measure 11, a conviction would trigger a mandatory minimum sentence of 70 months — five years and ten months — that cannot be reduced through early release or good-behavior credits, according to Siefman Law LLC. His two misdemeanor fourth-degree assault counts each carry a maximum of up to 364 days in jail and fines as high as $6,250, under Oregon law as outlined by the Daily Barometer.
Oregon State spokesperson Rob Odom said the university is aware of the situation but cannot share further information at this time. Sullivan has a status hearing check scheduled for August 25, which will offer the next public look at how the case is proceeding.
Beavers' Leading Returning Tackler Enters Camp Under a Cloud
Sullivan's football résumé made him a central figure in Oregon State's plans for 2026. In his junior season last year, he appeared in all 12 games with nine starts, racking up 72 total tackles, 35 of them solo, along with one sack and three forced fumbles — numbers that made him the team's leading tackler among returning players and a projected starter this fall. Before landing at Oregon State in 2024, Sullivan played his first college season at Butte College in California after graduating from Twentynine Palms High School, also in California.
The arrest lands squarely in the first season of new head coach JaMarcus Shephard, who was hired as Oregon State's 33rd head football coach in late November 2025 after the program finished 2-10. Sullivan's case marks the first major off-field crisis of Shephard's tenure, arriving just as fall camp gets underway.
Part of a Pattern Stretching Back to 2023
Sullivan is now the fifth Oregon State football player arrested on criminal charges since November 2023, a run of incidents documented by the Beaverton Valley Times. Running back Damien Martinez was arrested on DUII charges in late 2023. Wide receivers Jimmy Valsin III and David Wells Jr. were each arrested on separate DUII charges in November 2025. And cornerback Exodus Ayers was arrested that same month on 18 charges, including strangulation, harassment and unlawful dissemination of an intimate image.
Ayers' case offers a direct precedent for how the athletic department has handled a teammate facing serious charges: according to the Daily Barometer, he remained on the roster and continued practicing with the Beavers through mid-2026 while his court dates proceeded. Whether Sullivan follows a similar path — staying with the team while his felony charge works through the courts — remains an open question the program has not addressed publicly, with his next status hearing not until August 25.
