ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609130073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA AND ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITERS
An estimated 200 people were at the scene of an Aug. 31 fight on College Avenue where a track athlete said 15 to 20 Virginia Tech football players beat him with a cane, breaking his collarbone.
Blacksburg police said Tuesday that because of the number of people at the scene, the investigation "is expected to take some time to interview each witness or potential witness."
Another victim - in addition to the track athlete - has been identified, police said.
The brawl has drawn national attention, including coverage by ESPN.
At Tech, word of the incident is spreading and some faculty are praising Tech President Paul Torgersen, who said in an interview published Saturday that misbehavior involving football players must stop.
"I share the president's concern and embarrassment," said Bob Denton, a communications professor. "Over the last couple of academic years there clearly seems to be a trend and pattern among student athletes to be involved in undesirable and in some cases - in my opinion -criminal behavior."
But some students interviewed on campus Monday and Tuesday said the string of incidents has been highlighted because of the success of the Sugar Bowl champion Hokie team. And others, like history professor Hayward Farrar, say a few "bad apples" are reflecting poorly on an otherwise hard-working group of student athletes.
"It needs to be reiterated: This kind of behavior cannot happen," Farrar said.
Tuesday, many students remained unaware of the incident or had heard only rumor. Others expected more university action to follow. "If that story is true, I would expect the university to come down pretty hard, and frankly, they should," said Student Government Association President Jay Hulings.
Town police updated the progress of their investigation Tuesday, but issued little new information. "Blacksburg police detectives are currently investigating an incident of malicious wounding and assault that occurred on College Avenue near the Squires Student Center at 2 a.m.," the statement says.
Police will not say whether football players will be charged in connection with the beating, but did say they have received the "full cooperation of the [Tech] athletic department in sorting out this matter."
If or exactly when criminal charges may be brought remained unclear Tuesday.
Authorities have two options: to present the facts to a magistrate to get arrest warrants against any suspects; or present the evidence to the commonwealth's attorney, who could choose to seek direct indictments from the grand jury. The latter procedure would eliminate the need for preliminary hearings in General District Court. Instead, the cases would start in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
The next Montgomery County grand jury meets Oct. 8.
The Blacksburg police statement said the victims are being kept well-informed of the case's status and "there is no reason to believe that anyone accused is a threat to any other person."
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB