Solomon Beebe, a Virginia running back and kick returner, was arrested Monday and charged with three misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals after allegedly punching and smacking his pitbull, according to case details viewed by The Post.
One of the alleged incidents involving Beebe, who transferred to the Cavaliers following two seasons with UAB, occurred Aug. 10 and the other two occurred Aug. 12, according to the case details.
He first appeared in Albemarle County District Court on Thursday.
A housekeeper at the apartment complex where Beebe lives told an animal control officer that she observed two occurrences of Beebe being violent with his pitbull, Jeb, according to The Daily Progress.
“She observed Mr. Beebe hold his dog against the wall and punch his dog with a closed fist multiple times,” Justin Gibson, the animal control officer, wrote, “and the dog was yelping in pain with each strike.”
Gibson also wrote that, in the second Aug. 12 incident, Beebe “held his dog down and smacked him twice in the face without reason” while in the hallway of the apartment complex.
The dog was taken into protective custody Aug. 13, according to The Daily Progress, and Beebe said in court Thursday that he agreed to have his father, Lee Beebe Sr., come to take care of his dog.
“The University does not comment on matters involving ongoing criminal proceedings or student records,” Virginia said in a statement to the 247Sports site covering the school.
Beebe was practicing with Virginia on Monday, according to The Daily Progress, and head coach Tony Elliott told reporters that “he showed immediately that he can play running back and be a really good one.”
“So he’s in the rotation there, which requires a lot to play for us,” Elliott told reporters, according to The Daily Progress. “And then in the return game, he’s already shown what he can do there.”
In two years with UAB, Beebe rushed for 419 yards and he also collected 248 receiving yards and 600 kick-return yards in his second year with the program.
He was the only player in the FBS — and the first since 2023 — to record six rushing touchdowns and 600 kick-return yards in the same campaign, according to his Virginia bio page.
