A University first-year student was assaulted near Territorial Hall early Sunday morning, according to police. Grant Bemowski , an 18-year-old student in the College of Education and Human Development, was returning to Territorial Hall when several men approached him and said he was antagonizing them, Bemowski said. One of the men pushed him and another punched him in the face, Bemowski said. âÄúI didnâÄôt aggravate them at all. I was talking on my phone âĦ and then he hit me in the face,âÄù Bemowski said. Bemowski awoke with hazy vision, a swollen eye, a cut on his elbow and a hemorrhage in his hip after blacking out and falling to the ground when he was punched in the face, according to a University police report. The men did not take anything from Bemowski, but he was carrying a wallet at the time, he said. Bemowski was unsure if the group included two or three men, but did describe them as white college-age males. Police took the student to University Medical Center, Fairview because he had been drinking at a party. Bemowski received stitches and was released with no charges. Citations average on first TCF Bank Stadium weekend University of Minnesota police did not note an increase in underage drinking or drinking citations over the weekend. The number of citations for the weekend was âÄúpretty averageâÄù for a fall weekend, when student activity is generally high, University Police Chief Greg Hestness said. âÄúThe weather [is] nice, students are not particularly under the gun to catch up with exams or any end of term things, so I think they feel more at liberty to socialize,âÄù Hestness said. In terms of crime, neighborhoods surrounding the stadium âÄúwerenâÄôt particularly disturbed by the game at all,âÄù Hestness said. Visiting fans from rival Big Ten schools may be rowdier than fans from Air Force Academy , but University police have no plans for major changes in their approach to policing future games. They will examine alternatives to help ease the flow of traffic around the stadium, Hestness said. Police recorded fewer than 10 citations for underage drinking inside TCF Bank Stadium during the football game, Hestness said. Police took a 19-year-old female student to detox after they found her âÄústumbling around the stadium.âÄù She registered a BAC of .26, according to a police report. University police also cited three men for public urination over the weekend. All three incidents occurred on or near campus. Away from the stadium University police responded to a report of possible alcohol poisoning in Centennial Hall early Saturday morning to find two 18-year-old female students , one of whom was âÄúcrawling around in the dirt and defecated while speaking with officers,âÄù according to a police report. The student voluntarily took a breathalyzer test and registered a BAC of .127, and was admitted to University Medical Center, Fairview. The other student was issued a citation and was released, according to the report.
Student assaulted near the Superblock
Also, police see no spike in alcohol citations with new stadium.
by Ian Larson
Published September 15, 2009
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