Considering a single person has yet to be arrested or charged, we actually know quite a lot about Baton Rouge Police Department's ongoing investigation into a wee-hours bar fight involving multiple LSU players last Friday morning. In fact, I'd be willing to bet it's among the most scrutinized assault-and-battery investigation in Louisiana history, if not at the top of the list.
We knew the bar, and where it was located. We knew when suspected players planned to meet with police, and when they didn't, and then when they finally did. We knew that quarterback Jordan Jefferson had been accused by witnesses of kicking a man, who was possibly a Marine, possibly in the head. We knew the specific injuries of the four people taken to the hospital after the fight. We knew when police searched Jefferson's apartment Wednesday evening, and we knew exactly what they took away. We knew exactly what charges players were likely to face, hypothetically, even in the glaring absence of the real thing.
Thursday�morning, though, we finally�received our first official account of the brawl itself, courtesy of the newly released incident report filed by the responding officer on Aug. 19. And it is not pleasant reading, to say the least (emphasis added):
[Andrew] Lowery advises that while standing outside in the parking lot of the bar, he observed several suspects that he believed were LSU football players (approximately 10-15 people) pull an unknown W/M [white male] out of a black Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. He advises the crowd began to severely beat the unknown W/M. Lowery advises that he intervened and managed to pull the unknown W/M from the crowd. Lowery advises that he managed to get the unknown W/M back into his pickup truck. Lowery states that the unknown W/M was able to leave the parking lot. Lowery advises that the suspects then began to physically assault him. Lowery states that he was punched and kicked several times by the crowd. I observed that Lowery's face was swollen and had several bruises. Lowery also had blood on his shirt. Lowery advises that after beating him, the suspects got into a silver vehicle and left the scene. Lowery states that he believes that Jordan Jefferson and Josh Johns, both LSU football players, were two of the individuals who attacked him. Lowery declined medical attention and advised that he would be okay.
After speaking with Lowery, I was contacted by [redacted]. [Redacted] advises that she observed the entire altercation. [Redacted] states that the entire altercation began because the unknown W/M's pickup truck was blocked in by another vehicle. The unknown W/M yelled at the them [sic] to move the vehicle. [Redacted] states that the crowd suddenly pulled the unknown W/M out of his pickup. [Redacted] advises that after Lowery managed to rescue the W/M, he was attacked by the suspects. [Redacted] advises that there were approximately ten suspects who attacked the unknown W/M. [Redacted] advises that prior to the unknown W/M leaving, he threatened the crowd that he had a gun in his pickup truck. [Redacted] states that she never observed the W/M with the gun. She advises that approximately five more suspects joined in on the attack on Lowery. [Redacted] advises that she believes that all were LSU football players because some she recognized as being on the team. The others were wearing official LSU Football shirts. [Redacted] advises that she knows for certain that she observed Jordan Jefferson kicked [sic] Lowery in the face. [Redacted] also advises that she observed Josh Johns as being one of the people who attacked Lowery. Lowery advises that she doesn't know the names of the other players but states that she could identify them through pictures if needed.
According to WBRZ News in Baton Rouge, this is Andrew Lowery in the aftermath of the fight:
According to the report, Lowery, 21, was one of the victims who refused treatment. Among the four people who did go to the hospital, one reportedly suffered three fractured vertebrae; one was reportedly knocked unconscious with contusions to the head, nose and hands; and two others suffered cuts and bruises.
As for Lowery, it seems he'd already had an eventful night: According to a petition for a temporary restraining order filed by his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend, Lowery was stalking her in a bar and hit one of her friends earlier in the evening. (She also claims Lowery forced his way into her home earlier this month and at one point followed her to New Orleans and threatened her friends.) A judge granted the restraining order on Wednesday and set a hearing date in September.
Again: As of early Thursday afternoon, no one had been arrested, no one had been charged, no one had been suspended and everyone is on schedule to suit up against Oregon on Sept. 3, as scheduled. The investigation is ongoing. But for the few LSU fans who hadn't consumed themselves with the potential of backup quarterback Zach Mettenberger already, now might be the time to start.
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Hat tip: @PeterBurnsRadio, via @FOTProgram
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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