According to a newly released police report, the beating that took place in front of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house last month appears to have been perpetrated by a single aggressor.
Furthermore, PIKE’s campus charter has been placed on interim suspension and the fraternity is no longer allowed to host its annual Fight Night or recruit new members this quarter.
According to a police report – made available to the Daily Nexus yesterday by the Isla Vista Foot Patrol – at approximately 2:20 a.m. on March 2, UCSB students Thanh Hong and Paul Elekes were attacked in front of the PIKE fraternity house. During the incident, documented as two separate counts of battery, the victims were attacked from behind and punched in the face; Hong sustained a lip laceration and sought medical attention.
Isla Vista Foot Patrol Lt. Brian Olmstead said the police report suggests a single aggressor was to blame for the battery. This report contradicts previous accounts that linked multiple subjects to the incident.
“Based on e-mails and reports being distributed throughout the community, IVFP would like to clear up some of the information being disseminated,” Olmstead said in an interview yesterday. “At this point in the investigation, we believe only one suspect was involved in the battery of the victims as well as responsible for the racial slurs.”
According to the IVFP police report, five to six men were hanging out in front of PIKE when one of the subjects began hollering at Hong and Elekes, who were passing by the fraternity.
“The subject appeared ‘drunk and belligerent,'” reads the report. “Hong and Elekes ignored him and continued walking. The subject then hollered at them and came up from behind and pushed them both in the back. The subject said [omitted] [omitted] [omitted] – this was possibly in reference to Hong’s Asian ethnicity. The subject then lunged at Elekes and began punching him on the left side of the face. Hong tried to help Elekes and the subject punched Hong once in the mouth, lacerating Hong’s upper lip.”
Hong and Elekes described their assailant as a thin and muscular white adult male, between the height of 6’2″ and 6’4″ with black spiky hair. He was reportedly dressed in a dark blazer with a white shirt underneath and dark dress pants during the attack.
The report states that while a group of subjects stationed outside PIKE witnessed the battery of Hong and Elekes, they did not actively participate in the beating.
Despite their presence, the group of subjects feigned ignorance when IVFP officers arrived on the scene at 2:49 a.m.
“I asked if anyone saw the assault that happened several minutes earlier and everyone said no,” reads the police report. “I asked them about the fresh blood on the sidewalk and everyone denied knowing anything about it.”
At around 5:00 a.m., IVFP officers returned to the PIKE house once more and noted the subjects were still gathered outside the fraternity. This time, however, a new subject was present at the scene, pacing the property in possession of a broomstick.
“We asked if walking around the planter box with the broomstick was a hazing activity,” reads the report. “But no one would admit to it. However, it appears that is what was happening.”
Andrew Irwin, former Interfraternity Council President and PIKE Fight Night coordinator, said the fraternity has since been placed on interim suspension by the university and lost ownership of its annual boxing tournament.
“At the moment we are not hosting Fight Night if there has been no hearing [before April 17],” Irwin, a fourth-year business-economics major said. “We have a lot of issues we are dealing with right now. We are trying to get our campus recognition back and working on changing the name of our fraternity. But our number-one priority is raising money for the charity and keeping our commitment to the kids. Our charter and our reputation are secondary to that.”
While PIKE awaits a judiciary hearing – the date of which has yet to be determined by the university – Irwin said the fraternity has unofficially transferred the reins of Fight Night to Pi Alpha Phi, a multicultural fraternity.
In the face of ongoing police investigations, Irwin said he is certain the name of the fraternity will be cleared when the facts of the case emerge at the hearing.
“We just want to make it clear PIKE is innocent until proven guilty,” Irwin said. “We want justice for this guy and he deserves that but we should not be put in this position because of an allegation. We have been helpful throughout the investigation and been cooperating with the police. It is frustrating that all of these allegations are giving us a worse reputation when at the end of the day we are confident it will be found we have no fault.”
In the wake of the incident, the leadership of Pi Kappa Alpha issued the following statement on behalf of the fraternity:
“It is our hope that the actions of this one individual are not generalized to the members of Pi Kappa Alpha, either individually or collectively. To do so would broadly condemn an entire group of individuals, which may be as unfair as the remarks reportedly made to Thanh [Hong] and his friend. Until all the facts are in, we would like to reiterate our concern for this serious matter and desire to do our part and continue assisting in the investigation of this incident.”
Front Page News AGAIN!?!??I don’t understand why this situation going on with PIKE is making front page news of the daily nexus again! The last two volumes of the nexus have had PIKE on the front page and the writer doesn’t seem to be getting her facts straight as the article is just merely updating the situation going on. The UCSB greek student body comprises less than 15% of the actual UCSB undgrad population! I want to read about floatopia, my sports teams and other things that actually matter and affect the majority of the students! Not one person beating… Read more »
Did you notice that this seems to have been a hate crime against a couple of people who were just walking by? Not just any minor fight between drunken neighbors.
Re: Front Page News AGAIN!?!??
You’re right. We need less coverage on hate crimes.
DAMN YOU, NEXUS!
Bias much?
Nice attempt at changing the subject kcPIKE! The last thing "we" need is less coverage on hate crimes. Maybe you should damn yourself for being associated with PIKE instead of being associated with the students. A.S. represent! Students Party 4 Life.
the university should just ban all funding of greek life as a result
Re: Bias much?
Um…I think kcpike was being sarcastic.
Commonsense down the drainWell there are a lot of things wrong with what is being said. First the story says that an Asian-American was violently beat by PIKE guys and there were racial slurs ISSUE 96. Now the story is that an Asian-American and his Caucasian friend were struck and by one supposedly pike guy and there might have been a racial slur. There should be a apology to Pike for posting something that was based on INCORRECT information. THIS CAN BE A LAWSUIT for slander. Second Banning all funds to GREEK? I do not know where you have been… Read more »
thatsnotgrammaticallycorrect
I hope you’re not in an academic frat.
Trust me. I am in a cultural Greek not some club/Greek no offense to those Greeks. People join fraternities not cause of them name at least not all the time. They join based on how well they know the people in the fraternity/sorority. You do not rush for strangers you rush for your friends and the friends your hoping to make. Plus the other fun stuff. I have not taken a side with Pike or Thanh. I just want to point out the inconsistencies of the reports and how important it is that this fight night Charity is a success.… Read more »
keep comments about the topic at hand and not about the lack of preparation or editing used.
That’s not right thatsnotrightYour claims that the nexus is slandering Pike is completely baseless. First, the nexus never said Pike members were involved with the assault, look at the first article and quote it for me if you wish to prove it. Second, the nexus never said 2 Asian students or an Asian student and a Caucasian student, they said "UCSB student Thanh Hong and a friend" in the first article and than gave the friends name in the second article. So that has not changed, the only part that has changed were the number of assailants. Third, paragraphs are… Read more »
KayAlright then, here’s the topic at hand. Some PIKEs sit outside, one of them hassles some kid with racial slurs, attacks him and his friend (I assume that’s a crime, you know, that law enforcement should deal with? And consequences should arise from the lawbreaker’s actions?) and later when the cops come, PIKE suddenly has a case of amnesia and no one remembers the event. Nothing wrong happened here, right guys? Right? The Greek system is weakened by people like thatsnotright who, rather than side with the logical choice, blindly defend a fraternity that is somewhat infamous for giving the… Read more »
Issue 96
Several men outside the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity house violently beat UCSB student Thanh Hong and a friend last month, while allegedly screaming “gookâ€
How often does PIKE need to be placed on suspension before their charter is revoked? Every year its the same shit. Hate crime, rape allegations, hate crime allegations, hazing, etc. I’m not damning the Greek system, just PIKE. “It’s not all of us”, well maybe the rest of you just don’t get caught. Fuck those guys.
thatsnotright is the only one with brains. Guest you are ridiculously biased. the thing is fight night and this incident are completely independent. btw this incident was ruled not a hate crime.
I can’t say that I’m all that surprised. When I attended UCSB in the 1990’s they were still the bunch of corrupt, belligerent douchebags that they seem to be now. They always wanted to fight any unaffiliated male who even stepped foot near “their turf” and were known for low blows and sneak attacks. I was accosted by three roided-out PIKES when a buddy was trying to get us into one of their parties. One of my fraternity brothers received a black eye because some jealous PIKE saw him talking to a girl. I always wondered what these people were… Read more »