Eight injured in bar brawl
Surrounding counties send police to break up fight in Hamilton
early Sunday.
>Reports from Colgate Student Witnesses
The Post Standard Monday, April 18, 2005
By Alaina Potrikus Staff writer
A brawl broke out among about 200 people at the Palace Theater in Hamilton just after 1 a.m. Sunday, leaving eight people injured, according to Madison County sheriff's deputies.
Deputies are unsure what provoked the fight, which started on the dance floor and escalated outside the establishment, which is owned by a Colgate University subsidiary. Deputies said two of the eight suffered more serious injuries than the others.
Deputies could not provide names or more details, referring further questions to the Hamilton Police Department, which couldn't be reached Sunday.
Colgate officials do not believe any Colgate students were injured, said Jim Leach, Colgate's vice president for public relations. He also said those who were hurt should be OK. "We've heard from the hospital that there were no life-threatening injuries," he said.
When deputies arrived on the scene on Utica Street, more than 400 people were in the club and on the street, said Deputy Kim Baker. More than 30 law enforcement officers from neighboring counties responded to disperse the crowd.
The Palace Theater was renovated in 2002 by Hamilton Initiative LLC, a Colgate subsidiary that helped give an entire block of Utica Street a $7 million makeover. After the $1.5 million renovation, the three-story building now boasts a 3,200-square- foot dance area on its main floor, with a lounge and full bar upstairs.
Sunday afternoon, employees swept away glass shards littering the sidewalk. Inside, Baker said, the scene was worse, with furniture tossed about.
Douglas "D.J." Brows, who works at the Palace, said the bar was busy Saturday night but not filled to capacity. Students from Morrisville State College and as far away as New York City and Utica were at the party along with Colgate students, Brows said.
The entertainment for the evening was an event hosted by Morrisville students, according to a calendar of events on the nightclub's Web site. Holla Entertainment, a student-created private organization made of mostly Morrisville students, titled the night "TEMPTATIONS: The Unofficial Afterparty." The group hosted a fashion show on campus earlier in the evening, according to its Web site.
Staff writer Mike McAndrew contributed to this report.
© 2005 The Post-Standard. Used with permission. Copyright 2005 syracuse.com.
All Rights Reserved.
Reports from Colgate Student Witnesses
– by Mark Bello 4/18/05
Eyewitnesses say that the brawl occurred at the unofficial after-party for the SUNY Morrisville International Show at the Palace Theatre in downtown Hamilton. The afterparty included a concert by DJ Dubmaster of DVS Mindz Entertainment.
Some report that many of those involved wore the same color, indicating that it may have been gang-related violence in the Colgate-owned Palace Theatre, 1 mile from Colgate's campus.
At about the same time as the bar brawl, the Colgate-only bar Old Stone Jug was evacuated when it was feared that one of the fighters had run into the establishment with a weapon. Outside of "The Jug," Colgate student witnesses claim to have nearly been hit by glass bottles thrown from across the street.
There have been some reports of firearms being drawn on Colgate student onlookers by people involved in the fight. Some students also claim to have seen participants attempting to "kick in" the windshields of police vehicles.
Witnesses say that violence extended as far as the parking lot of Wayne's grocery store, a block away from The Palace Theatre.
Colgate partly justifies the coerced sale of all privately owned, off-campus Greek housing as well as increased Colgate control of those establishments by claiming that Greek organizations have a pattern of disciplinary problems such as violent fighting, sexual misconduct, hazing, and alcohol and drug abuse.
According to Colgate's 2004 Crime Statistics Report, there were 3522 reports of crimes ranging from forcible sex offenses to liquor and drug law violations to illegal drug possession at on-campus property and Colgate-owned residential facilities between 2001 and 2003. There were only 16 reported incidents between 2001 and 2003 on non-Colgate owned buildings and property.
For more information, see www.sa4c.com Students & Alumni for Colgate, Inc.