Montgomery County grand jury to review attack of UD professor for possible charges

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

UPDATE @ 5:21 p.m. (Aug. 30): A 911 call obtained by Newscenter 7 gives some insight in an Aug. 24 incident where a University of Dayton student reportedly assaulted a professor and was banned from campus.

In the call, the professor reports that a student on the eighth floor of Miriam Hall “just attacked me in my office as I was coming out.”

The professor reportedly went to other offices to seek help.

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The suspect, a 20-year-old junior, has not been named or charged.

When asked if the student seemed intoxicated the professor replied, “He might be.”

Montgomery County prosecutors said the case will be presented to a grand jury.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office reported that it’s possible the case won’t be reviewed until after the Labor Day holiday.

In the meantime, students said they believe police are doing their best to keep campus safe.

“As students, there’s not much we can do to defend against violence,” said Peter Kolb, a senior. “We’ll be careful and cautious, but we can’t stop walking around campus.”

UPDATE @ 3:30 p.m. (Aug. 29): A Montgomery County grand jury will review the case of a University of Dayton student accused of assaulting a UD professor, according to the county prosecutor's office.

The student, a 20-year-old junior, is not in custody and has not been charged in the Aug. 24 incident at the university’s Miriam Hall.

UPDATE @ 8:04 p.m. (Aug. 27): University of Dayton police will present evidence gathered in Friday's attack on a professor in Miriam Hall to a county prosecutor's panel to have pending charges approved and formally filed.

Monday, university officials also said a criminal trespass order has been filed against the student, which prohibits him from coming onto university property.

The 20-year-old junior engineering student’s name has not been made public because no formal charges have been filed, university officials said.

EARLIER REPORT (Aug. 25)

A University of Dayton student is in custody in relation to Friday’s attack on a professor in Miriam Hall.

A 20-year-old junior engineering student has been charged with robbery, vandalism, aggravated menacing, aggravated assault and resisting arrest, according to a statement from the university. The university did not identify the student.

Around noon on Friday, UD police responded to a call about a man who allegedly tried to forcibly take money from a worker putting up a tent near Kennedy Union on 300 College Park, chief of police and executive director of public safety Rodney Chatman wrote in a letter to the UD campus community today.

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Police were unable to find the suspect when they arrived but received another call at 12:27 p.m. that a faculty member in Miriam Hall had been surprised and pushed against a wall by a similarly described man. When police arrived, people were evacuating the building because a fire alarm had been pulled by an unknown person. The faculty member was not injured.

An officer pursued a fleeing man who fit the description of the assailant down Stewart Street. The man fought the officer, tried to grab the officer’s gun and wrestle it away and said he would shoot the officer, Chatman’s letter said.

The man, who was not armed, was taken into custody and treated for a non-serious injury. The officer was not injured.

The initial report: UD professor attacked on campus; man arrested by campus police

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

“University of Dayton police responded to this rapidly evolving and uncertain situation with professionalism and speed,” Chatman said. “Only a short amount of time elapsed from the time police were notified to when the suspect was taken into custody. Since the situation was clarified and resolved very quickly, it did not rise to the level of an emergency notification.”

This incident occurred on the third day of classes. Students moved back to campus last weekend and returned to classes Wednesday.

We are working to obtain more details about the suspect.

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