Twelve of 15 Salisbury University students accused of attacking and beating a Maryland man because of his sexual orientation had hate crime and first-degree assault charges dismissed, court records show.
According to Salisbury police, all 15 students were arrested last month for allegedly punching, kicking, spitting on and calling a man derogatory names after luring him to an off-campus apartment under false pretenses on Oct. 15.
The students, ages 18 to 21, originally faced several charges, including first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and related hate crime charges, police said.
As of Sunday, court records show that 12 of the accused students are charged only with false imprisonment and have had their first-degree assault charge downgraded to a misdemeanor of second-degree assault.
They are: Riley Brister, 20; Bennan Aird, 18; Ryder Baker, 20; Cruz Cespedes, 19; Dylan Earp, 20; Cameron Guy, 18; Jacob Howard, 19; Eric Sinclair, 21; Patrick Gutierrez, 19; Dylan Pietuszka, 20; Sean Antone, 19; and Benjamin Brandenburg, 18.
The remaining charges accusing them of reckless endangerment and committing a hate crime were dropped after preliminary hearings last week.
“We have filed charges where appropriate” based on reviews of the evidence collected during the investigation to date, the Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office in Maryland said in a statement to NBC News on Sunday. “As this is an ongoing criminal prosecution, we cannot provide any further comment at this time.”
Steve Rakow, an attorney for Brister, one of the students, told NBC News in an email: “While these are still serious allegations, this was never a hate crime and certainly never a first-degree crime.”
Rakow continued: “As of now, my client maintains his innocence. Should the state offer a plea deal in this case, we will evaluate it and make a decision on whether to accept the plea deal or go to trial.”
A trial for Brister and nine of the other students was scheduled for Jan. 29 in Wicomico County District Court. The trials against Antone and Pietuszka took place on January 23 and 24 respectively in the same court.
Two other students had their cases transferred to Wicomico County Circuit Court. They are Zachary Leinemann, 18, and Elijah Johnson, 19. Although they had their reckless endangerment charges dropped and their assault charges reduced, they still face false imprisonment and hate crime charges, court records show.
Both Leinemann and Johnson have their first court appearances scheduled for Jan. 3.
Logan Clark, 19, still faces two charges of first-degree assault and another charge of second-degree assault, as well as charges of reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and hate crimes, according to court records. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
“At this time, the students charged in connection with the alleged incident have been provisionally suspended,” a Salisbury University spokesperson told NBC News in a statement on Sunday.
“Salisbury University continues to monitor these cases as the law process takes its course,” the statement continued. “We remain committed to maintaining safe and welcoming spaces for our students, our staff and the broader community.”
Salisbury police said last month that they were contacted by university campus police on Oct. 31 about an alleged attack at an off-campus apartment complex for university students.
Detectives meeting with witnesses saw cell phone footage that allegedly showed “an adult male victim being attacked by several middle-aged men,” police said in a Nov. 7 news release.
Detectives also met with the victim and learned that on Oct. 15, a group of men used a social media account to invite the victim to a home “under false pretenses,” the release said. When the victim showed up, “numerous middle-aged men surrounded the victim and forced him to sit on a chair in the middle of the living room,” police said.
The victim was “forcefully seated in his seat,” he was reportedly “kicked, punched and spit on while the men called the victim derogatory names,” police said. The victim told investigators he tried to get away several times, but the group threw him to the ground.
Police said the attack lasted several minutes before he was allowed to leave. The victim said he sought medical attention and suffered bruises and a broken rib.
Investigators have said they believe the man was targeted because of his sexual orientation.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
