By
Irene Hsiao
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UAPD still investigating last week's attack in front of Manzanita-Mojave
The UA student reportedly attacked early Wednesday morning in front of Manzanita-Mojave Residence Hall said the assault could have been triggered by a note he wrote himself minutes before.
The 31-year-old man, whose name is being witheld by the Arizona Daily Wildcat, said he left Frog & Firkin, 874 E. University Blvd., earlier that morning and walked north on North Tyndall Avenue to get some coffee. He stopped in front of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house, 1011 N. Tyndall Ave. for a few minutes when somebody from the house approached him, he added.
"That wasn't much of a problem, I think I bantered with him, but he wasn't hostile," he said "(Then) I got ready to leave."
The student said before he tried to leave, he wrote a note to himself for his diary, which is a collection of notes he puts in a box at home. The man admitted he was slightly intoxicated after six beers at the restaurant, but was "never rude" or "threatening."
When he was about to leave, he said a group of people who he believed were fraternity members came out of the house acting "suspicious," as if "they were trying to hide something."
"The ringleader (of the group) said there was an investigation and I was going to ruin the investigation," he said.
The victim said he thinks it has to do with the "status" of the fraternity, which lost its recognition from the University of Arizona Greek Life two years ago for several party violations.
After talking with them, the man said the group of about 15 people chased him up East First Street until they reached Manzanita-Mohave, 1000 N. Park Ave. Once there, the men "were circling me and taking punches at me," the man said.
"I never met these gentlemen before, and I wasn't aware of the existence of the fraternity before," he said. "They're loyalty is to protect tradition, but I don't see what they're protecting with this behavior."
Jason Chlowitz, ZBT president and a communication junior, said last week the chapter had a Halloween party Tuesday night and between 400-500 members and guests attended the social function.
He said ZBT members were not involved in the reported assault, adding that the chapter "can't be accountable for what 500 people are doing."
University of Arizona Police Department detectives are still investigating the case.
"They've had a tough time contacting people at ZBT," said Sgt. Mike Smith, UAPD public information officer.
Chlowitz said he tried contacting UAPD but has not spoken to them yet.
The incident left the student with a black eye, a bruised nose and a bloodied face, he said.
He added that when he went to collect his belongings from UAPD the next day, some items were missing. The man said a library book, a floppy disk and a yellow duck bill were missing when he claimed his bag and that his Texas Instruments-89 calculator was taken when the incident happened.
