Penn State assistant cornerbacks coach Jordan Lucas faces two misdemeanor DUI counts and three summary traffic offenses after a September 22 charge in State College. The case is pending; the charges are allegations, not findings of guilt.
According to Daily Voice, which cited a police affidavit, officers found Lucas alone in an SUV at South Pugh Street and East Beaver Avenue. The affidavit reportedly says officers found him passed out behind the wheel and that a blood test measured his blood-alcohol concentration at 0.236 percent. Police took him to Mount Nittany Medical Center for the blood draw, the outlet reported.
The affidavit account also says Lucas did not satisfactorily perform field sobriety tests, including the walk-and-turn and one-leg stand. The reported traffic counts include illegally parking in a crosswalk, driving an unregistered vehicle, and driving while his operating privilege was suspended or revoked. Daily Voice reported that his Maryland license had been suspended since April 2025 and the SUV’s Maryland registration had expired in September 2025.
What Pennsylvania’s alcohol threshold means
Pennsylvania law defines the highest-rate DUI tier as a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.16 percent or higher within two hours after driving, operating, or being in actual physical control of a vehicle, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The reported 0.236 percent result is above that threshold, but the legal definition does not determine the outcome of Lucas’s case.
The statewide context is broader than this case: the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s 2025 Crash Facts and Statistics report recorded 7,316 alcohol-related crashes in 2025, down from 7,745 in 2024. Those figures describe Pennsylvania as a whole and do not establish a trend in State College or relate to the allegations against Lucas.
Case status and Penn State role
Daily Voice reported that a preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 21, 2026, before Steven F. Lachman. Penn State Athletics said it was aware of the charges and took the matter seriously; the outlet reported that Lucas remained with the football program.
Lucas played at Penn State from 2012 through 2015, finishing as a safety, according to the university’s 2015 roster. The Miami Dolphins drafted him in 2016, and he later played for the Kansas City Chiefs, winning Super Bowl LIV. He returned to Penn State in 2024 and was promoted to cornerbacks coach in October 2025, according to Talk of the Sound. The DUI case remains pending.
