Nine individuals, at least eight of them Syracuse University students, were arrested in connection with a fight that broke out just before 2 a.m. Sunday at a dance party in the Schine Student Center.
The cause of the fighting is still unknown, but a witness told Syracuse.com [12] that as many as 20 men could be seen fighting at a time. The witness said he saw blood spattered on the floor as people were leaving the building and he reported that police were ultimately forced to use pepper spray to stop the fighting.
According to a statement by Kevin Quinn, [13] the senior vice president for public affairs, no injuries were reported. The statement also said that several DPS officers were present before the fight began, acting as security for the scheduled event, and immediately attempted to intervene once the fighting began. “All attendees were instructed to leave the building and additional officers from DPS and Syracuse Police Department responded to the location.”
The Syracuse Police Department also released a statement [14]Sunday night, reporting that “hundreds of students were leaving the Schine Center” when they arrived on scene around 1:40 a.m. “Officers attempted to disperse the large and unruly crowd but they were met with much resistance. Officers were forced to arrest nine Syracuse University students.”
The nine individuals were arrested on charges including disorderly conduct, harassment, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration. At least eight of those arrested were current SU juniors or seniors including Onome Agbaza, Alray Cromer, Michelle Desa, Nahum Ducasse, Lawrence Jackson, Grant Mayes, Osarumwense Pat-Osagie and Andre Sadler.
A search of the student directory showed no results for the ninth arrested individual, Daniel E. Bolven, 21, who was charged with disorderly conduct. All are being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center [15] pending the investigation and arraignment in Syracuse Court.
A video of the fight surfaced on YouTube, uploaded by a sophomore SU student, but the video was removed by the user late Sunday night.
The statement from public affairs seems to indicate that the disturbance will not result embargo on similar events in the future: “Dance parties such as this one have been regularly held on campus for many years, without major incident and we will continue to support a secure and structured social environment for out students.”
Below is a photo [16] from the scene, tweeted [17] by a student just after the fight.
@jessetwilson [18] twitter.com/NicholasCaiell… [19]
— Nick (@NicholasCaiello) February 3, 2013 [17]
