By
Irene Hsiao
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Second assault in one week at UA also included theft
In the second assault against UA students in the past six days, a man was reportedly attacked yesterday morning on the steps of the Manzanita-Mohave Residence Hall.
About 15 people attacked a University of Arizona student at 2:35 a.m. yesterday after chasing him, University of Arizona police reports stated. The attackers left the man with a bloodied face and took his backpack.
The attackers first approached the victim at East First Avenue and North Tyndall Avenue, and words were exchanged between both parties, reports stated.
The 31-year-old victim ran towards Manzanita-Mohave, 1000 N. Park Ave., when the attackers caught him and began to beat him, reports stated.
The reported attack comes on the heels of another assault on Friday, when two students told police they were beaten up and robbed by three unidentified males.
"They appeared to be two isolated incidents of the same crime class - robbery," said Sgt. Mike Smith, a UAPD public information officer.
Officers investigating yesterday's incident found the student's backpack at 5:45 a.m. in an alley north of First Avenue between Tyndall and Park Avenues. The belongings in the backpack remained intact.
"We do have leads, and we will be following up," Smith said about this incident.
Two witnesses said they saw the group of attackers, most with Halloween costumes and painted faces, run inside the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house, 1011 N. Tyndall Ave.
One witness said she was sitting with friends in the Manzanita-Mohave lobby when "we saw a whole bunch of guys stomping and kicking the crap out of the guy."
When the crowd of students came out of the dorm, the attackers ran off.
"They saw us and then bolted back to ZBT," she said. "It was just ridiculous the amount of guys on this guy."
Another witness said the group was "kicking the hell out of him."
"If they didn't belong to the frat house, obviously, they were partying at the frat house," he added.
The male witness said the victim was incoherent after the attack but said, "I want my bag."
Both witnesses said the victim said he thought his attackers were members of a fraternity.
ZBT had a Halloween party Tuesday night, attended by about 400 to 500 people, that lasted until 1 a.m., the chapter's president, Jason Chlowitz, said, adding that security was at the house from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. and left when a "late-night" party began.
"A vast number of the people in the house weren't members (of ZBT)," said Chlowitz, a communication junior. "I honestly don't know what happened."
Chlowitz said if 15 members of the chapter had done anything like that, he would have heard about it.
"There's no talk about anything," he said.
