Colby College student allegedly threw bottle at police responding to bonfire
A Colby College student has been charged with two counts of assault after allegedly throwing a bottle that struck two police officers responding to a rowdy bonfire early Sunday morning, The Morning Sentinel reports.
Between 200 and 250 students, many of them drinking, surrounded the fire outside a senior dorm around 1 a.m. the day of graduation, according to the Sentinel. Firefighters waited to tackle the fire, which was fueled by mattresses and furniture, on the Waterville, Maine, campus until police arrived because of the crowd, which police said began throwing beer bottles, cans, and wine bottles.
“[The students] also were shooting fireworks over the fire department and officers as they tried to put the fire out and at one point firefighters felt threatened enough that they actually sprayed water at students so they would back off so they could get to the fire and put it out,” Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey told the Sentinel.
Jonathan Sdao, 24, of Niwot, Colorado, was charged with two counts of assault and refusing to submit to arrest in connection to the incident, the Sentinel reports. The officers and a firefighter hit with the projectiles were uninjured, but one student was taken to a hospital after being struck in the head.
Firefighters returned to the campus around 4:30 a.m. for a dumpster fire. The state fire marshall told the Sentinel at least two students responsible for starting the blaze have been identified and are expected to be charged or summonsed.
A college spokeswoman told the Sentinel the school will investigate and that, “We believe strongly in the need for everyone in our community to show respect for our first responders.”
Read the full Sentinel report here.
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