Seven BSO Deputies Injured In FAU Frat Fracas
DEERFIELD BEACH (CBSMiami) – Seven Broward County Sheriff deputies were injured as they attempted to shut down a loud fraternity party Saturday.
"They had a DJ, the music was loud, and the liquor was flowing," said Jeffrey Levin, 58. He was working late in his warehouse car repair shop down the way from the party.
BSO began getting telephone complaints of loud music about 10:35 p.m., according to spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, dozens of Broward Sheriff's deputies arrived to shut it down, telling about 200 people — many of them students from Florida Atlantic University — to go home.
"When our deputies addressed the noise concerns, a few of the partygoers became unruly and charged at deputies," Concepcion said in a statement.
As one man was being taken into custody, she said, "a mob of partygoers rushed the deputies — several of which took blind punches on the deputies, who were struck in the head and bodies."
Punches were thrown, six revelers were arrested and seven deputies were injured, including one who broke his hand, according to BSO.
Levin said he saw guns drawn, too.
Capt. Robert Schnakenberg of BSO's Deerfield Beach district said, "Any time seven officers are treated for injuries, I'm dissatisfied. But I am satisfied this was not worse than it was."
He said FAU police are part of a continuing investigation of the incident.
Six party-goers were arrested including Felix Regis, 21, of Delray Beach. Regis got a cut on his head that took more than 20 stitches to close. He was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
Four others were each charged with one count of resisting arrest without violence. Jermain Joseph, 28, of Deerfield Beach, who rents the warehouse space, was also charged with violating the city's noise ordinance.
All bonded out of jail Sunday.
D'Atra Jackson, 24, the only woman arrested, told the Sentinel she was obeying police orders to walk down the street away from the warehouse when an officer tripped her from behind and handcuffed her after she fell to the ground. She sat in a police cruiser for about two hours, she said, before she and the others were taken to the Broward County jail.
"The police actions were unnecessary, over the top, meaningless," said Jackson, a graduate student at Florida International University in Miami. "We felt like we needed protection from them."
The party was to be a celebration of the new pledge class of the FAU chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's oldest black fraternity, according to those who attended.
Jackson said she did not think the music was excessively loud. "I think the cops arrived, saw hundreds of young black people here, and called for backup," she said.
The officers who were injured "all drove themselves to medical facilities for evaluation," said Concepcion.
