WILLIAMS WEATHERING TOUGH CHAPTER IN LIFE.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON

SAN BERNARDINO - No one wants to see a man suffer like Justin Williams, a former Canyon High football star who's confined at dreary Patton State Hospital after being deemed incompetent to stand trial on felony battery charges with injury against a police officer.

Williams had a stellar career on the field, which has been covered in great detail, culminating with him being chosen All-Southern Section running back at Canyon High School in 2004.

Unfortunately, things fell apart rather quickly for Williams with his arrest on May 28 in Valencia and subsequent court hearings that haven't gone particularly well for the 20-year-old from Canyon Country.

Being familiar with Williams' exploits on the field, I wanted to get his side of this tough chapter in his life. On Sunday I sat with him for about an hour to hear his side of the story.

We already know the other side from police accounts and previous Daily News stories. According to authorities, Williams was acting bizarrely while visiting an auto dealership in Valencia the day he was arrested. He took off his shirt, yelled profanities and waved at passing cars before sheriff's deputies were called. A struggle ensued, and Williams was accused of punching a deputy in the face, then running away only to be subdued a short time later, according to sheriff's reports.

Williams was shot with a Taser gun numerous times and pepper sprayed, and Williams' attorneys say he was also beaten with a baton on his head and briefly hospitalized before eventually being locked up in L.A. County jail, then transferred to Patton after being deemed incompetent by a judge.

Williams said he was simply visiting a friend at Valencia Acura, where, according to owner Don Fleming, he had worked for about three months last year. He said deputies startled him, beating him for no reason.

``I wasn't doing anything. I'm innocent,'' said Williams, who on Sunday was lucid and conversational. Witnesses say otherwise.

Williams, who's facing a possible three-year prison sentence, said his attorneys pushed for a competency ruling because he was in a haze following his arrest. He said he's OK now and is eager to face the charges and clear his name, though a court spokeswoman said there is no new hearing date scheduled.

So in the meantime, Williams awaits his fate at Patton, a distant state mental hospital that's surrounded by barbed-wire fences.

``It's been tough, really tough for me,'' he said. ``I don't really know how I've gotten through it so far. I guess just getting strength from my family.''

Williams said he was beaten by both guards and fellow inmates in jail.

``They put me in a cell with three other guys, bigger than me, and one of them had a razor, and the first thing they did was take my dinner,'' Williams said. ``Then they sat there and ate it right in front of me, and I was mad. I ended up boxing all of them because I didn't want to go to sleep worrying about the guy with the razor slitting my throat.''

After setting his ground, Williams said he was summoned the next day by jail officials, who tried to put him in with three different cellmates. When Williams objected, he said he was mistreated by the guards.

It's a lot to go through, especially if Williams is innocent as he proclaims, but there are other sides to the story.

I tracked down the employee at the Acura dealership who said he called the police on Williams. The employee didn't want his name in the newspaper but said the call was justified.

``(Williams) came to the dealership and was acting very strange, taking his shirt off in the dealership and waving it in the store,'' he said. ``He was here for about five minutes, then he went out front and was yelling at (passing) cars. It looked like he was going to hurt himself or hurt someone else, so that's when we called the sheriff.''

Fleming, who was not on the lot on the day of the incident, said Williams was fired from his former job as a porter at the dealership because he couldn't get to work on time, though Williams was welcome to visit.

``I liked him a lot, and we were hoping to help him after a friend of mine helped to get him the job here,'' Fleming said. ``But I guess Justin Williams had another agenda. He just couldn't get to work on time.''

A toxicology report that has been put into evidence said Williams, on probation for a previous misdemeanor offense when arrested, had no illegal drugs in his system -- an issue that could play in his favor in court. Nevertheless, his attorney, George Kezios, said Williams was not in his right mind.

``He just couldn't stay focused,'' Kezios said. ``He would be talking normally, then go in and out of talking normally. That's an issue.''

Three-and-a-half months later, Williams is in much better shape -- considering his situation.

After graduating from Canyon, where he rushed for 1,437 yards and scored 25 touchdowns as a senior, Williams took a year off from football but said he attended classes at College of the Canyons. He was working out and planning to play football at Glendale College before he was arrested, and he said he still hopes to make a comeback.

``I'm trying to stay in shape by doing pushups and sit-ups,'' he said.

He's lonely, tired and scared but determined to somehow be a better person after putting an end to this terrible ordeal. Meanwhile, he has somehow figured out a way to keep up with Canyon football, and he knew the Cowboys had lost 18-17 two nights before our visit.

``You have no idea what it's been like for me. It's been hell,'' he said. ``I'm sitting up in here and don't know what everyone must be thinking about me. But I'm going to be OK. I'm going to get through this.''