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Brigham Young junior running back Manase Tonga was arrested and booked in the Utah County Jail after a routine traffic stop in Provo early Tuesday morning.
Tonga was cited by the Provo Police Department at 1:30 a.m. for failure to stop at a stop sign, driving with an expired car registration and providing false personal information to an officer.
Tonga, 23, had a warrant out for his arrest for a prior minor traffic violation and gave a false name to the arresting officer during Tuesday's incident.
"It was just a totally average traffic stop for a moving violation," said Provo Police Sargent Richard Dewey. "The officer stopped the vehicle and asked the driver for his name, and he didn't have an ID. He gave a name back to the officer and he ran it on the computer and it didn't come back to any real person."
Tonga was released at 2:50 a.m. to Daniel Turagavou, who paid $207 in cash bail for the warrant and $2,150 in bonds for the citations. Tonga then left for Los Angeles to get married in the LDS temple, said Jeff Reynolds, BYU's assistant director for athletic communications.
BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall also is out of town on a family vacation, Reynolds said, and could not be reached for comment.
"Coach is aware of the situation and knows about it, however because he is out of town and Manase is out of town they haven't been able to review the matter," Reynolds said. "When he gets back, they will gather the appropriate information and decide how to handle it."
According to court records, Tonga was issued a traffic citation on Aug. 21, 2006 for failing to stop at a stop sign and had a warrant issued for his arrest on Nov. 16, 2006 after failing to pay the fine.
Tonga was cited again on April 23 of this year for failing to stop at a stop sign and driving without registration, but was not arrested on the warrant.
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Tonga rushed 44 times for 197 yards and scored four touchdowns in 13 games last season and caught 23 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns.
Tonga originally signed with Utah out of Aragon High in San Mateo, Calif. After serving a church mission in Honduras, Tonga decided to attend BYU.
Tonga's arrest is the latest in a string of BYU athletes appearing on police blotters in the last few months.
In January, BYU senior basketball player Rashaun Broadus was arrested in Provo for driving under the influence and was suspended for the remainder of the season by coach Dave Rose. Broadus, who graduated in the spring, pleaded guilty to lesser crime of alcohol and drug related reckless driving, and was sentenced to a year probation and a $432 fine.
In February, Tonga's younger brother, Matangi, a freshman defensive lineman, was suspended from the football team for violating team rules. He was arrested on April 1 on six theft charges and one burglery charge. He still has not returned to the team.
In April, BYU linebacker Terrance Hooks and tight end Vic So'oto were arrested in Orem on suspicion of burglary after breaking into two apartments in search of someone who threw a water balloon at Hooks' girlfriend.
Mendenhall suspended Hooks and So'oto for the final week of spring practice, and Hooks, who was charged with burglary, will have to sit out BYU's season-opener against Arizona on Sept. 1.
Three weeks ago, BYU track star Kyle Perry was arrested in Provo after getting out of his car and striking a pedestrian with a mop, according to police and witness reports.
Perry is scheduled to appear in court on July 10.
"These are isolated incidents that when you combine together make it sound worse than it really is," Reynolds said. "We are not making light of them, but they are not reflective of the students and type of athletes we have here at BYU."