Investigation into allegations of excessive use of force against ECU students ongoing

GREENVILLE - East Carolina University's police chief said Monday he couldn't say whether officers from the Kinston Department of Public Safety and the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office were involved in Saturday's altercation after ECU's victory over West Virginia.

However, he couldn't say they weren't involved either.

"It is a personnel matter at this time, so I would prefer to wait," ECU Police Chief Scott Shelton said.

In addition to KDPS and LCSO, the Greenville Police Department, Pitt County Sheriff's Office and the Winterville Police Department had officers on the ground to assist campus police at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Shelton said he was "impressed" with Winterville and named Greenville PD and Pitt County deputies as some of the best.

He made very few comments about Lenoir County and Kinston officers at Monday's press conference, though Shelton did say ECU will reassess which departments to use at future football games.

"Other police departments are in our town," Shelton said. "They're part of the collegiate atmosphere. ... That's not to disparage other jurisdictions. ... Other jurisdictions have other problems and they're not familiar with the issues we have here at ECU at large events."

Though ECU police - led by Lt. Curtis Hayes - is investigating the incident, Shelton said any disciplinary action would come from the officers' own departments.

Despite that fact, Shelton came down hard on those officers who may have used excessive force to try to prevent students and fans from rushing the field after the surprise win.

"Let me first say that celebration is not a crime... at East Carolina University, the city of Greenville or the state of North Carolina," he said. "Certainly any inappropriate or excessive use of force... will not be tolerated."

Videos circulating on the internet and on ESPN, the network that covered the game, show what appears to be two separate incidents of police officers manhandling students. In one, an officer picks a student up and slams him or her to the ground. In another, it appears a police officer punches a fan.

Shelton said around 114 officers were on duty that day, with about 60 on the field at the end of the game.

WITN is reporting that both Kinston and Lenoir County officers were involved in these incidents. A victim told the TV network they were assaulted by a Lenoir County deputy. From what is visible on the tape, it appears to be a Kinston officer pushing the fan to the ground, according to WITN.

Mac Manning, Pitt County Sheriff, told WITN, "That's not my officer" involved in these altercations.

Maj. Chris Hill of the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office said Monday that the department was waiting for the outcome of the investigation before deciding what - if any - statement he would make.

"We had people over there that were contracted by ECU to support ECU police," he said.

Assistant Chief Annette Boyd of the KDPS Law Enforcement Division said there were 13 officers at the event and they are being investigated by Internal Affairs Cmdr. Frankie Howard.

"If an officer is disciplined by the department, the officer's name will not be made public since it's a personnel issue," she said. "If charges are brought against any officer, then the name of that officer will be made public."

Shelton said three arrests were made at Saturday's game, though only one was related to fans rushing the field. That one, a male, was brought to the hospital and treated for abrasions to the face.

"It took three of our officers to detain him and get him handcuffed," Shelton said of the man whom he called "belligerent" and "intoxicated."

Shelton denied any of his officers used unnecessary force.

According to Shelton, police held two briefings before the game on Saturday to discuss the possibility of fans trying to get onto the field if the Pirates upset the Mountaineers.

"Our briefing consisted of advising the officers that they were to make a physical presence... and then deter fans from going over the fences," he said.

Some of the fences separating the field and the fans are quite low, Shelton said, and that's how many fans got in. Others simply got in through an open gate.

Shelton said he has fielded "at least a dozen" complaints regarding the altercation and more people have stepped forward since the chief released a statement Sunday.

The videos in circulation from both fans and media are a part of ECU's investigation, Shelton said.

He said he plans on talking with the athletic department as well as other police chiefs and those involved in Student Life to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.

"Do the defenses need to be changed?" Shelton said was one question that needed to be asked. "Do we need to do something with the stadium?"

Shelton said the investigation could take as long as the beginning of next week and that people need to be patient and not rush to judgment.

Still, the chief said he knew people were upset by what they had seen in videos and they had every right to be.

"There's no denying what you saw on film is sickening in nature," he said.

Vanessa C. Shortley can be reached at vshortley@freedomenc.com. Jon Dawson can be reached at jdawson@freedomenc.com. Check out the Free Press crime blog at http://freepresscrime.encblogs.com.