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Bowie State University police have arrested two people but are searching for others in connection with an attack two weeks ago on a Bowie State University student that occurred after a pep rally on campus.
The male BSU student was attacked outside of a residence hall by several individuals just after midnight Oct. 15, according to a Bowie State University police report. In a letter dated Oct. 23 to elected officials and The Gazette, the victim's mother, Melody Spruill, said he suffered a broken jaw, fractured nose, nerve damage to the left side of his face and the loss of two teeth.
"This vicious attack could have resulted in death, if not for an intervening bystander," wrote Spruill. "I find this appalling because this attack happened in front of a crowd of people."
BSU students Matthew Bizzell, 21, of Laurel and Sasha Marie D'arville, 19, of Bowie were arrested after the attack and charged with first- and second-degree assault, said BSU Police Chief Ernest Waiters. Online court records indicate D'arville was arrested Oct. 21 and Bizzell was arrested Oct. 27.
A preliminary hearing for D'arville will be held Nov. 18 in Prince George's County District Court. Bizzell's hearing is scheduled for Nov. 23. Phone numbers for the two could not be located, and they did not have attorneys listed in their court records.
The victim was targeted in the assault, said Waiters, who did not comment further on the incident as an investigation is ongoing and police are searching for additional suspects. There is no indication a weapon was used in the attack, he said.
"We have not had anything of this scale," Waiters said of the attack, comparing it to other crime at the university.
In her letter, Spruill criticized the campus police department's handling of the incident, angered that her son's emergency contacts were not notified of the incident by the university. She did not respond to repeated requests for further comment on the issue.
Waiters deferred questions on campus police protocol to a university spokeswoman who did not return calls for comment by press time.
Campus police have ongoing outreach with students through Student Government Association meetings, and the university offers counseling services as a way for students to peacefully work out disagreements, Waiters said.
"Students have to find a way to work out their differences other than fights," he said.
E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.