That’s gonna hurt in the morning
Getting into a fight at a frat house may be a movie trope, but it probably was not how one out-of-town man wanted to spend his time in Tucson. However, that’s exactly what happened on the night of Aug. 25.
UAPD officers arrived at Coronado Residence Hall around 11 p.m. after being called in for an earlier assault.
Once there, the officers made contact with a man who reported being physically assaulted at the Theta Chi fraternity house.
The man, who said he was from San Diego and visiting his girlfriend, was still bleeding from the nose. The Tucson Fire Department and UA Emergency Medical Services arrived to provide aid to the man.
One of the officers took several photographs of the man’s injuries as evidence and proceeded to interview him.
The man told the officer that he was at a party at Theta Chi with his girlfriend, when one of the frat members approached him and told him to leave. The man said that he would leave as soon as he found his girlfriend, from whom he had been separated.
The frat member and the man then allegedly began to exchange vulgar language. Then, according to the man, the frat member blindsided him with a punch.
At this point, the man said he blacked out and had no idea how he got to Coronado.
The other officer then went to the Theta Chi fraternity house, where he was able to make contact with the frat member who punched the man.
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The member told the officer that the man had arrived at the party earlier that night but had been asked to leave.
While the frat member was escorting him out, the man allegedly flipped him off, shoved him and punched him. The frat member said that it was his “natural reaction” to punch the man back.
A Student Code of Conduct sanction was forwarded to the Dean of Students for the frat member’s involvement in the assault.
Neither party wished to press criminal charges.
The tipping point
This Uber driver probably won’t be getting a five-star review after a trip on Aug. 25 ended with him and his passenger getting into a fight.
A UAPD officer was driving her patrol vehicle at approximately 3 a.m. when she noticed a car parked near Park Student Union with three men and one woman standing around it.
When they noticed the officer, two of the men and the woman approached the vehicle.
One of the men told the officer that the third man was the driver for an Uber trip he had just taken. He said that the driver refused to give the man his luggage due to a disagreement the two were having about a tip.
According to the driver, who was from Phoenix, he accepted the ride request from the man but attempted to cancel the trip when he learned that it would be all the way to Tucson.
The man then pressed the driver, saying he would pay him a $60 cash tip if he made the journey. The driver agreed.
When they arrived in Tucson, however, the man told him that he would not tip the driver in cash.
At this point, the driver alleges, the man punched the driver in the jaw and abdomen before fleeing the scene. He then returned, trying to pay the tip when the officer arrived.
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The officer then spoke with the passenger.
The man told her that he had flown into Phoenix from New York to visit his girlfriend, the female witness.
He told the driver that he would give him a tip if he drove to Tucson. He meant for the tip to be paid through the Uber app.
When they arrived the driver asked for a cash tip of $200 and would not release the man’s luggage until he received it.
Then, according to the man, the driver grabbed the front of the man’s shirt and pushed him. The push caused the driver to fall and hit his face.
The male and female witnesses gave accounts that matched with the man’s story.
Based on all she had heard, the officer determined that the driver had instigated the fight by grabbing the man.
The man did not wish to press charges. He paid the Uber fare and left the scene with the witnesses.
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