Two more students have come forward with allegations Prince George’s County Police officers beat them unlawfully during the post-Duke victory riot March 4.
Senior William Wang, 23, and alumnus Christopher Booze, 21, are both considering filing civil suits against county police, joining junior John McKenna and sophomore Ben Donat. All four men have had charges against them relating to the riot dropped. The lawyer for three of the men, Terrell N. Roberts, said as more and more allegations of police brutality surface, police will have a difficult time pursuing criminal charges against any students.
“My prediction is there will be no convictions coming from all these arrests,” he said.
County police spokesman Maj. Andy Ellis said he couldn’t comment last night on the new allegations.
Attempts to reach Wang were unsuccessful, but Roberts said Wang left a downtown College Park bar, where he had watched the game, to make a phone call when he saw students recovering from being pepper-sprayed in Panda. Wang attempted to help the students, Roberts said, and then approached a few officers and asked them why they were pepper-spraying students.
He was then knocked unconscious by an unknown number of officers, Roberts said, and dragged to a pool of arrested people waiting to be taken into custody. Wang had cuts over his left eye and the left side of his face, and bruises and scrapes on both arms.
His charging documents, however, allege the wounds to be from a fall he sustained while trying to evade police. The documents say that county police officer “Cpl. Williams made over several attempts” to have Wang disperse from the area.
His lawyer said otherwise.
“He didn’t fall on the ground on his own and hit his head,” Roberts said. “He was knocked to the ground and then knocked unconscious and then struck several times.”
Roberts said the charging documents are part of a county police effort to hide the actions of officers.
“If any of that were true, the officer would have showed up at trial,” Roberts said, adding that Wang did not resist arrest. “The charges were merely a cover-up for the use of excessive force that evening.”
Roberts said Wang recalled using his knee to press against the wounds on his face to stop the bleeding because his hands were not available to him. Roberts added that Wang was one of the luckier students who were taken to the hospital rather than directly into custody.
Sharon Weidenfeld, a private investigator working with Roberts and the students, would not say if Wang was intoxicated at the time but pointed out that his charging documents do not mention alcohol at all. He was charged with willfully acting in a disorderly manner to the disturbance of public peace.
Booze, the alumnus also looking to take action against county police, was trying to pick up his cell phone after dropping it when police used excessive force against him, according to his attorney Brian Timian.
Timian said Booze was trying to find a way to his car but continued to meet a wall of officers who would not let him pass; other students have reported being similarly cornered.
Timian said Booze was by College Park Bicycle on Knox Road when someone bumped him, causing him to drop his phone. After attempting to retrieve it, police instructed him to walk away. When Booze bent over to pick up the phone, he was knocked unconscious by police.
“Next thing he remembers, he’s in Ritchie Coliseum in handcuffs with blood coming down his face,” Timian said.
All six people who have had a court date so far have had their charges dropped, including Booze.
Timian said Booze’s civil suit will require video footage to identify the officers who struck his client. He said he was pretty sure the officers he saw in court were not the ones he is looking for.
Wang’s case also hinges on additional help.
Weidenfeld stressed the importance of witnesses for her client’s case, pointing out students are fully protected if they come forward with information.
”We are still very actively investigating the beatings of William Wang and other students that night,” Weidenfeld said. “What happened to William was a terrible act of police brutality, and we’re hoping that anyone that saw any part of this will come forward and speak with us.”
She can be reached at sharonpi@aol.com and by phone at (301) 873-6969.
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