A student of Rider University was assaulted on Friday, March 28, at 10:35 p.m., after the Step Show held in Packer Hall.
Campus Police was dispatched to the rear of the Ratskeller on a report that one of the employees had seen a woman who appeared to have been in a fight because her face was bleeding.
Upon arrival, the staff pointed out the victim. Campus Police approached her and observed a large, bleeding wound on the top of her forehead. She was also bleeding from the right side of her mouth. There were obvious signs of swelling around her face and she complained of head pain and dizziness.
Lions EMS and an ambulance were called to the scene to treat her.
Investigation revealed that the victim was walking from the Step Show in Packer Hall to her automobile parked in Lot 3, when a former roommate of hers from Rider University and an acquaintance who also attends Rider attacked her.
The two asked the victim if they could walk with her to her car. The victim, who had no known problems with the women at the time, agreed to walk with them.
As they walked, the victim's ex-roommate walked next to her while the friend walked directly behind.
The ex-roommate then began to question the victim about rumors that she had been talking negatively about her.
The victim denied doing so and was suddenly attacked by the acquainance who had been walking behind her with an object, which was later identified as a glass iced tea bottle.
She then continued to strike her in the face and head.
The ex-roommate began to hit the victim with her hands and fists. The victim tried as best as she could to block the blows in an effort to protect herself.
She said that she didn't want to fight and she was just at the College to have a good time at the show.
The victim was able to get away and ran to the student center to check herself out and realized that she was bleeding.
The two attackers left the area in an unknown direction. She had no idea why this event occurred.
She was treated at the scene and taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Mercer Health Center because she would most likely require stitches and she may have sustained a concussion due to the bottle assault.
The victim signed a complaint against her attackers.
A 16-ounce Lipton Iced Tea Bottle was found at the location of the incident, along with fresh blood drops on the sidewalk. The item, which was described by the victim, had what appeared to be blood stains on its bottom. One blue lighter and $4 were found; however, the keys that the victim lost during the attack were not located.
Rider security was contacted and advised. They attempted to locate the accused but they were not home. Rider security agreed to contact Campus Police when they located the accused.
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A woman called Campus Police to report that she was assaulted on Tuesday, March 18, at 8:05 p.m.
Upon arrival, the victim was still there. However, the accused had left the area.
"This girl hit me and it started over a can of grape soda from the night before," she said.
There were three witnesses present who said that they saw everything and gave statements.
Investigation revealed that the accused had a male friend with her who was later identified by Campus Police. The victim signed a complaint with an affidavit of probable cause against the accused.
At 9:50 p.m., the accused arrived at Campus Police where she was arrested for simple assault, served the complaint and then later was released on her own recognizance.
Her friend was also called and arrived at Campus Police where a written statement was taken.
All of the witnesses involved were advised that they would be subpoenaed to testify in Ewing Township Municipal Court in early April.
Campus Police advised the accused not to have any further contact with the victim or further charges would be filed.
