Spring Break
Student assaulted at P.J.'s Pub
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The student was treated at Union Memorial Hospital for a serious cut and received staples in the back of his head.
A source who saw the men was able to describe three of them - the first as a 6'4" African-American, pudgy with a blue button-down sweater and white tee-shirt, the second as 6'2" with a medium build, polo shirt and olive tee-shirt and the third as 5'8", skinny and short, wearing a sweatshirt.
According to a Security report filed by Johns Hopkins Security Officer Walter Barnes, the suspects ran out of the tavern in an unknown direction after the assault.
The report also stated that the suspects were intoxicated.
The student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he is not going to press charges.
Barnes responded to the incident, and, after interviewing P.J.'s Pub owner Jerry Smith, went to Union Memorial Hospital to look for the student.
"I found [the student] in the lobby of the hospital, holding his head," said Barnes.
"He told me he'd been hit in the head with a bottle. He also said he could describe the men if he saw them again, but he couldn't remember what they looked like at that time."
Baltimore Police Officer Wayne Allon also responded to the assault. Allon did not return telephone calls.
The student said he asked four men to politely vacate the hallway and come inside the bar. The hallway is customarily checked every half-hour to make sure customers are not there with drinks, because the hallway is not licensed for liquor, according to Smith.
The student said that after asking the men to clear the hallway, they muttered expletives at him.
"I asked them to leave, and one of the guys said 'Go fuck yourself,'" the student said. "I asked them politely four or five times more to come inside the bar, but they wouldn't."
The student said he then told the men that they would have to leave if they didn't come inside. After being rebuffed again, the student said he attempted to escort the men out. At this point, one of the men got close to the student. One of the men punched the student in the face, and as the student tried to escort two of the men out at once, one of the men hit the student in the back of the head with a bottle.
According to the student, people arrived to break up the altercation after he was struck in the head. The student came out of the hallway and was met by Smith who sent him to Union Memorial Hospital.
"He came out and [was bleeding]. We sent him to the hospital right away," Smith said.
The student said he still felt safe working at P.J.'s, but was annoyed with the suspects.
"[Working at P.J.'s] is fine. This was just a freak occurrence," the student said. "These were just some random people that were looking for a fight. Someone told me they were trying to pick fights earlier. It's so unnecessary. They weren't regulars and they were being jerks for no reason."
Smith said that he and a friend of the student went to visit the student at the hospital later that night. He also said that one of the suspects was a plumber at a nearby repair shop that is adjacent to the hallway.
"It was this plumber's birthday and they were celebrating," said Smith. "And then [one of the suspects] takes a glass and hits him in the head. I feel terrible. I kept apologizing and asking the kid if he was okay. He was really great about it and kept telling me not to worry about it. Still, I feel awful about it."
The assault is the second major altercation to take place in or around P.J.'s Pub in less than three weeks. Another Hopkins student was injured at the bar on Jan. 21 when he shoved employees and swung his fists wildly at patrons and employees that attempted to escort him outside. That student was arrested a few hours later for assaulting two Hopkins Security Officers and a Baltimore City Police Officer.
Said Barnes: "These places need better security. It's pretty dangerous in these types of settings when people are drinking. These places need to look into getting [security personnel] rather than having employees also try to perform that function."