A GW student was released from D.C. custody and placed under home detention after allegedly striking and kicking another student in the face and body earlier this month.
Junior Chad Dauman, a transfer student from the State University of New York-Albany, was released Wednesday to his father following his hearing at the D.C. Superior Court, where a judge required him to remain on home detention in his hometown of Plainview, N.Y. The judge also ordered Dauman to enter himself into a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse until a Dec. 9 hearing, Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C., said last week.
Dauman, who was arrested Oct. 11, is facing indictment for an aggravated assault charge, a felony that holds a maximum sentence of 10 years. He was being held without bond since the arrest until his release Wednesday, Phillips said.
A grand jury is reviewing the details of Dauman’s case, in which he reportedly got into a fight with GW senior Akeem Samuels about football outside of a G Street nightclub in the early hours of Oct. 9, according to a police report. Dauman broke Samuels’ jaw and caused multiple fractures after repeatedly striking and kicking the senior in the face, the police report said.
Phillips said the jury, which is hearing accounts from eyewitnesses, police officers and detectives involved with the case, has up to 10 months after the arrest to indict Dauman. If he is indicted before his next status hearing on Dec. 9, he will be arraigned. If Dauman is indicted, Phillips said that a trial will probably not begin until 2006.
Tracy Schario, GW director of media relations, said Dauman has been placed on an interim suspension from the University until Student Judicial Services conducts a hearing, which Schario said she thinks will take place this week.
“Since each student case is confidential, we can’t share specific details,” she wrote in an e-mail Saturday. “What I can tell you is that typically in cases such as these, an interim suspension is issued until a hearing is scheduled. Generally, in cases of violence, a suspension or expulsion is a possible outcome.”
While Dean of Students Office administers the interim suspension, SJS conducts the hearing to decide whether he may return to campus. Tara Woolfson, SJS director, could not be reached as of press time.
Samuels, a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, will probably have to undergo reconstructive surgery due to the assault, Schario initially said following the incident. While a spokesperson from GW Hospital did not return calls from The Hatchet Friday, in the past they have not released any information regarding Samuels’ condition.
Vin Rohloff, Theta Delta Chi president, did not return calls and e-mails from The Hatchet regarding whether he or others from the fraternity have been in contact with Samuels since the incident.
Dauman did not return e-mails from The Hatchet asking for comment on the incident. Also, calls placed to the only listed Dauman residence in Plainview were not returned. Dauman’s lawyer, Thomas A. Key, also did not return calls from The Hatchet Friday.
