A student is attacked on campus and The Montage tracks down more information
By: LIVIE HALL
Opinions Editor
On Tuesday, March 3, a “domestic assault” took place on STLCC-Meramec’s campus, said Campus Police Chief Anthony Russo. Russo said a 18-year old male student and his 19-year old girlfriend were play fighting and it got out of hand. The female student reported the incident to campus police and the male student was in custody less than 30 minutes later.
Both were enrolled at Meramec.
Russo said the male student grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and held her on the table “for a minute.” The incident happened at 9:30 a.m. and she reported it at 11:30 a.m., Russo said.
“Nobody really saw it happen. She ended up calling and he actually wrote a confession,” Russo said.
The male student was in custody at the St. Louis County Police Department in Clayton for 24 hours following the arrest.
Russo said there was a No Trespass Order that went to the Vice President of Student Affairs, Kim Fitzgerald (VPSA.)
Fitzgerald said this order basically means students cannot return to class until they speak with their respective campus’ VPSA. The discussion can be over the phone, in person or in between classes.
However, this depends on the offense against the person and their compliance, Fitzgerald said. These orders are issued for a variety of offenses.
“If somebody is drinking and needs to get help for depression, the last thing I want to do is keep them from going to class if they’re sober,” Fitzgerald said. She said in a case like that, there would still need to be a conversation to work out the problem. Along with the No Trespass Order, Russo sent out a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) form to all of his officers.
Russo said this case is different from the Jevon Mallory incident in April of 2013 because the two involved knew each other. Mallory was convicted of assaulting student Blythe Grupe in a bathroom.
“This is not an ongoing threat. It’s not stranger-on-stranger. He [the boyfriend] was in jail within three hours — reported, arrested and booked,” Russo said.
The male student was charged with Assault 2nd Degree for choking and was arrested in the cafeteria. His girlfriend signed a refusal form for medical care. No warrant has been issued at this time.
