Police officers assaulted student, witnesses say

The incident allegedly occurred during the course of Thursday's string of assaults on police officers. Police officers responding to Thursday's bloody string of assaults beat a College freshman unconscious before arresting him, numerous eyewitnesses charged. Bill Sofield was allegedly assaulted by University and other police officers inside the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house at 3619 Locust Walk after the officers entered the house to arrest him for disorderly conduct. And although Sofield was later charged with resisting arrest, FIJI brothers said yesterday that the 18-year-old did not provoke the attack. University Police officials declined to comment on any specifics of Thursday's incident, stressing that the entire evening remains under investigation. They are continuing to interview a large number of witnesses. "Our goal, as in any investigation, is to find out what happened," Detective Commander Tom King said. And Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush noted that "we want to be sure that our officers do the right thing. We hold them to that standard, and this investigation as it unfolds will be looking at the totality of the circumstances of the evening." The incident -- which began when Penn police officers confronted three men who they said were arguing and appeared drunk -- quickly escalated into a string of assaults that eventually sent four police officers, a student and another man to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After police arrested Bill Sofield's brother, Richard, for disorderly conduct outside of the FIJI house, Bill and Richard's friend Warnell Kayode Owens -- known as Yode -- ran inside the FIJI house. Owens, a Harvard alumnus and former college football player, left the house via the back door and subsequently assaulted four police officers, according to police. Meanwhile, the younger Sofield stayed in the FIJI house with some of his fellow lacrosse team members who are brothers there. Eventually, approximately 20 police officers from numerous area forces entered the house and identified Bill Sofield, according to FIJI President and Wharton senior John Ward. Ward and six other FIJI brothers -- in signed letters he said were submitted to the Sofield family and Assistant Vice Provost for University Life Barbara Cassel, and were obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian from an anonymous source -- allege that the officers then assaulted the freshman. Cassel refused to comment or confirm if her office is involved in handling the investigation. According to one student witness' statement, the police "surrounded Bill and the white-haired officer began to yell at him. Bill did nothing. I then heard the white-haired officer yell to Bill, 'Do you want to come at me?!' Bill remained calm and quiet while leaning against the wall." The officer -- whom Ward said he has seen on campus many times -- then "pinned Bill to the wall by his neck and reached for his nightstick." Another policeman grabbed the officer's nightstick, preventing him from striking Bill Sofield, students wrote. But the first officer and two other policemen at the scene "then pushed Bill over (he was doubled-over) on a table in the foyer? [and] began to punch and elbow Bill in the back and side rib area," according to one student's written statement. The witnesses wrote that Bill Sofield was then thrown to the floor and punched and kicked by the officers, who handcuffed him two minutes after the beating began. "The scars are going to heal, but he's an 18-year-old kid and he's got to deal with this not only for his college career here, but for the rest of his life," Ward noted. Before being taken to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau for questioning, Sofield was sent to HUP, although Rush said it was "not because of injuries." The Sofields were later released on their own recognizance, and Owens posted $1,200 of his $12,000 bail before being freed. After his release Saturday afternoon, Bill Sofield returned to HUP, where he was X-rayed and given various tests, said an anonymous source familiar with the incident. She added that the younger Sofield's injuries are "very visible, and it's obvious to anyone who sees him that he was beat up." Bill Sofield "has got a black eye, he had a golf-ball size welt [on the side of his head]? that went down pretty quickly and he's pretty sore," Ward said. Owens was also sent to HUP with minor injuries suffered after he struck his head on the ground when he was tackled by University Police Officer Rudy Palmer. According to the anonymous source, "Yode also had visible baton marks all over his back [and] his legs." Owens allegedly assaulted four Penn police officers in three separate incidents before being subdued. Officers Pat Dunn and Jeffrey Dougherty received minor injuries when Owens -- who had apparently been drinking -- struck them behind the FIJI house, Rush said. In what Rush described as the worst injury of the night, Owens allegedly beat Officer Martin Turofski unconscious behind Hillel. Turofski was sent to the hospital with two black eyes, internal tissue injuries to his nose and multiple contusions and lacerations. And Owens is accused of punching Officer Tony Ramos so hard that his bicycle helmet flew off his head. Ramos suffered minor injuries in the incident, which occurred near the corner of 36th and Walnut streets. "The officers used amazing restraint," Rush said, pointing specifically to the danger caused when Owens allegedly reached for an officer's gun. "In another place, another time, this perpetrator might not have been so lucky."