Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994 TAG: 9405240087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Charges against four other members of the group were dismissed, either because witnesses did not appear at Monday's preliminary hearing in Radford General District Court, or because the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence.
Authorities alleged that on Jan. 21 six members of the former Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity went to two apartments rented by members of Tau Kappa Epsilon to avenge the beating of a friend earlier that evening at a Radford bar.
But Adrian Ordenes, 22, one of the two men whose charges were sent to the grand jury, told Judge John T. Molumphey III that he and 15 to 20 others were looking for TKE member Michael J. Valentine so they could find out why the confrontation with their friend, Russell Forbes, had occurred.
Ordenes admitted going to an apartment on Tyler Avenue with a group of people, but denied he was present at a Second Avenue apartment where the door and windows were broken and TKE trophies and picture frames were destroyed. Ordenes said they knocked on the Tyler Avenue apartment door before entering and asking Valentine's whereabouts.
"I never struck anybody," Ordenes said.
But Jason Denison testified it was Ordenes who hit him in the face, breaking his glasses.
Molumphey sent all six breaking and entering charges against Ordenes to the grand jury to consider for indictment.
The judge also sent two breaking and entering charges against Wajid Aziz, 22, to the grand jury. Aziz, who also was identified by several victims of the break-ins, did not offer any defense testimony.
Douglas Knight testified he was sitting in a chair at the Tyler Avenue apartment when several people rushed in uninvited, saying they were looking for Valentine. "I was tipped over the chair. Someone had hit me in the right eye," Knight testified.
Todd Douglas, who lived at the Second Avenue apartment, testified he was watching television at about 3 a.m. when he saw a large group of people outside. While he dialed 911, he said, a group of 15 to 20 broke in through a door and "trashed the house." He stayed inside his bedroom.
The judge dismissed charges against Mike Mateer, 22, and Sean Muldoon, 19, because there was no evidence they were at the apartments during the break-ins.
And charges against two other men, Patrick Kannan, 23, and Bradley John Adams, 22, were dismissed because witnesses did not show.
Charges stemming from the altercation between Forbes and Valentine were also resolved Monday.
A felony charge of malicious wounding against Valentine was reduced to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. The charge was taken under advisement but will be dismissed after Valentine pays Forbes' medical and legal expenses.
An assault and battery charge filed against Forbes by Valentine was dismissed.
Sigma Phi Epsilon lost its national charter in 1991 after Radford withdrew recognition because of repeated incidents that the university believed were fraternity-related. Those incidents included destruction of university property, hazing, disruptive behavior on campus and fighting.
Earlier this month, the national organization of Sigma Phi Epsilon filed suit in U.S. District Court seeking to strip the Radford group of the right to use its trademarks and the nickname "Sig Ep."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***