Cal U football players arrested for brutal assault that left victim with brain trauma
California University of Pennsylvania has forfeited an upcoming football game after five of the team’s members were arrested for beating a man off-campus. The man suffered extensive injuries and was in intensive care stemming from brain trauma suffered during the assault.
The five players allegedly ran away from the off-campus restaurant where the assault occurred yelling “Football strong!”
The assault occurred around 2 AM, when the victim, identified as Lewis Campbell, attempted to halt an argument between his girlfriend and one of the alleged assailants. The players then beat the 30-year-old West Chester man, leaving him unconscious on the sidewalk.
The university announced that all five players were suspended. The men involved in the assault were identified as D’Andre Jamal Dunkle, Rodney Dwight Gillin, Jonathan Jacoma Barlow, Corey L. Ford and James Williamson. The players range in age from 19 to 22 and were being held on $500,000 bond due to the brain trauma suffered by Campbell. The lower part of the injured man’s brain shifted 80 degrees, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The owner of the restaurant said that this wasn’t the first assault to take place in the area recently, saying, “There’s been way too much of it.”
Cal. U was 6–2 going into this weekend and tied for the division lead, but the university’s interim president Geraldine Jones said in a statement, “The police investigation is continuing, and the rights of these accused students will be upheld. But in light of these allegations, I asked coach [Mike] Kellar to cancel Saturday’s game. Behavior has consequences, and all Cal U students, including student-athletes, must abide by our Student Code of Conduct if they wish to remain a part of our campus community.”