Brawl between two UK fraternities started as a feud over rental property, records show
A simmering dispute between two University of Kentucky fraternities over rental properties boiled over into an egging incident and two late-night brawls last September, court records show.
Three UK students — David Roth, 21, Dylan Carrington, 22, Colin Malloy, 20 — were charged with second-degree burglary in connection with the incident. According to a Lexington Police report from that night, the three students are accused of being among a crowd of over 50 people reportedly associated with Sigma Alpha Epsilon that allegedly busted through a door and window of a Waller Avenue house being rented by Delta Sigma Phi members.
The near-campus altercations at the house after midnight on Sept. 25 of last year also factored into the six-year suspension of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the one-year suspension of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity by university disciplinary officials.
However, the attorney representing the three students said the charges were bogus as police have never talked to his clients and the three students charged were unable to be found by police that night. The case will head to a preliminary hearing on Friday morning in Fayette District Court where attorneys will have a chance to question the officer who authored the police report in court.
“This whole rigmarole arose over nothing and it’s unfortunate one of my clients ended up with a fractured skull that night,” said Fred Peters, the charged UK students’ defense attorney.
According to the police report by Officer Adam Cervasio, Lexington police responded to reports of a large disturbance on Waller Avenue around 3 a.m. and officers found a group of “approximately 50-75 people running in the street in all different directions” who fled from police.
Officers were able to locate multiple “visibly intoxicated” people at a house in the 100-block of Waller who told police that a group of students “kicked in their front door and destroyed property and shoved them around.”
Nine people in the house told police they were members of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and had in recent weeks been having “disagreements” with members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. They told police that SAE members had leases on two houses on Crescent Avenue — only a short walk away.
“However, the students at Delta Sigma Phi really wanted to take over the lease for the two houses on Crescent,” the report stated. “They tried to get the lease for these two houses, but were unsuccessful. Because they attempted to take the lease out from under the Sigma Alpha Epsilon students, they started being targeted.”
Two days prior to the alleged break-in, SAE members allegedly egged the Waller Avenue house with “over 500 eggs,” the report stated. And on the night of Sept. 25, a group of SAE members walked over to the Waller house from Crescent Avenue “to continue this argument” which led to a “physical altercation in the side yard” of the Waller house.
“The students with Sigma Alpha Epsilon reportedly lost this altercation and fled back to their houses on Crescent Avenue,” the report stated.
Skull fractured with golf club
Peters said his client’s skull was fractured during this first altercation where “some Delta Sig hit him in the head with a golf club.” Peters said he has video of his client falling after being struck.
About 20 minutes after this first altercation — close to 2:30 a.m. — when “all of the students of Delta Sigma Phi were back inside” the Waller house, a front window was “violently smashed out by an unknown subject’s fist and arm” followed by the front door being kicked in.
The report stated that a group of 50-70 allegedly stormed in and started smashing property and did so until an “older guy,” which the police report associates with SAE, shouted “come on guys we got to stop, these are just a bunch of kids.” The fight then moved outside until police arrived.
According to a general investigative report obtained from the Lexington Police Department via an open records request, the property damage was estimated to be worth less than $1,000. A list of 11 victims said they were harassed and assaulted.
A resident of the Waller house told police he saw Roth, Carrington and Malloy as part of the crowd. Officers could not locate them at the time of the report. Officers also went to the houses on Crescent Avenue where five people inside one of the houses refused to come to the door. A table in a parking lot behind the houses had several golf clubs on it. There were no reports of arrests associated with the incident that night.
UK Police also arrived at the Crescent Avenue house and confirmed to Lexington police that Roth, Carrington and Malloy had registered the address with the university.
Aside from the resident’s testimony saying he recognized Roth, Carrington and Malloy, police have “no evidence” that the three were at the Waller house for the alleged break-in, Peters said.
Lexington police haven’t talked to the three students and haven’t attempted to, Peters said. He added that he’s tried to reach out to police and Officer Cervasio, “but they haven’t called me back.”
A UK Police report from that night estimated a slightly smaller crowd for the alleged break-in — around 30-40 — and stated that those who broke in were armed with “golf clubs and other dangerous instruments.” The report, which was obtained via an open records request, is redacted and stated that UK Police were summoned by Lexington police. The report states that SAE members were barricaded inside a house that was surrounded by Lexington police. It’s unclear which house, as the address is redacted.