Posted Tuesday, Oct. 11, 6:05 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 12, 5:40 p.m.
A GW student was arrested Tuesday evening and charged with assault with a deadly weapon for reportedly using his feet to inflict serious head injuries on another GW student.
The incident, in which student Chad Harris Dauman reportedly struck another student in the face and body, occurred in the 1700 block of G Street late Saturday night, Metropolitan Police public information officer Kenneth Bryson said Wednesday.
The victim, identified as senior Akeem Samuels, has sustained serious head injuries, GW’s director of media relations, Tracy Schario, said Wednesday. He has a number of broken bones and will likely have to undergo some reconstructive surgery, but as of Tuesday, the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, she said.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at around 2:20 a.m. After MPD officers arrived, the victim was transported to “a local hospital” and admitted to the intensive care unit because he “suffered multiple injuries as a result of the attack,” Bryson said. A spokesperson for GW Hospital would not comment on whether Samuels was being treated there, citing confidentiality.
Samuels, who is a member of the fraternity Theta Delta Chi, will turn 21 later this week, Schario said.
Dauman, 21, was arrested at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday for the assault following an MPD investigation, Bryson said. Ben Friedman, chief of the misdemeanor section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, said assault with a deadly weapon with feet is a felony that carries a maximum 10-year sentence.
Schario said Dauman is a transfer student from SUNY-Albany, where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. Schario said she does not know Dauman’s year at GW, and she does not believe he was associated with GW’s chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. She said Dauman’s motive for the attack is unclear.
“We don’t believe at this time that it was an inter-fraternity rivalry. We believe it was just an individual to individual act of heinous violence,” Schario said. “Right now, it’s being treated as an individual violation of the Code of Student Conduct.”
Wesley Johnson, president of GW’s chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, said no member from his fraternity was involved in the attack. He said the fraternity has “severed all communications with a recently transferred student.” In an e-mail Monday, Johnson said his fraternity held a meeting to address the chapter Sunday night “regarding an incident involving a member of the GW Greek community.”
“This individual was initiated by a Pi Kappa Phi chapter at another university. At no time was this individual accepted as an official member of the George Washington chapter of Pi Kappa Phi,” Johnson said in a different e-mail sent Tuesday.
“The alumni of Theta Delta Chi are pushing for Akeem,” said a Theta Delta Chi alumnus, who did not want to be identified. “We’re looking out for him, and we’re concerned. He’s just like any other member of the fraternity. The alumni support the fraternity and hope for Akeem’s continued recovery.”
“We’re asking everyone to keep Akeem in their thoughts and prayers, and that’s all I can say for now,” said senior Vin Rohloff, the fraternity’s president.
University Police Chief Dolores Stafford said Tuesday that when UPD arrived at the scene early Sunday morning, other police agencies were already involved. Since the incident occurred off-campus, UPD does not have many details on the beating, Stafford said. Stafford said the incident occurred outside of a downtown nightclub.
A bartender from The Exchange, a bar and nightclub located at 1719 G St., said Tuesday that while she was unaware of an incident occurring near the nightclub Saturday night, she believes there was a sorority-sponsored party at the club that evening. She said The Exchange’s manager was unavailable for comment.
-Brandon Butler, Angel Castaner, Jessica Calefati and Ryan Holeywell contributed to this report.
