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Former DU lacrosse player Ilija Gajic, a junior, is scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday, May 26, on charges stemming from a January brawl outside the Border.
Gajic has been charged with third-degree assault and second-degree assault-bodily injury because of an altercation that occurred in the parking lot of the popular bar on the night of Jan. 28. Felony charges carry a jail term of four to six years.
A second lacrosse player, sophomore Brendan Deblois, has already been arraigned as the result of the same incident. Deblois is facing a charge of third-degree assault, which carries a possible jail time of 18 months. A plea and setting hearing is set for Thursday.
In addition to these court cases, lacrosse players Gajic and two others have recently been removed from the team. Deblois was not disciplined by DU athletics.
“We announced on March 31 that Jamie Lincoln, Ilija Gajic and Brad Richardson were dismissed from our men’s lacrosse team for violations of team policies,” said Erich Bacher, director of media relations for the Division of Athletics and Recreation.
“Because of privacy matters, we are not allowed to discuss either of these matters,” Bacher said.
Commenting on the statement, senior Brad Richardson said, “The reactions from peers and friends in the lacrosse community were very alarming. Due to the vagueness of the press releases on the matter, it left people trying to define “conduct”, the stated reason as to why I was released.”
According to a 23-year-old female, who graduated at the end of winter quarter 2009, she and a male friend, also 23, were attacked by a group of lacrosse players while they were leaving the Border late at night on January 28.
“They surrounded us, grabbed me and tried to provoke me,” said the woman, who asked that she not be identified because she still feels at risk. “It ended with my friend and me on the ground.”
She said that she had a nearly fractured cheekbone, while her friend had two teeth broken during the attack. Each of them suffered numerous cuts and bruises.
“The lacrosse players were actually doing the fighting, one hockey player and one or two SAEs just surrounded us,” she said. “A bouncer at Border threatened to call the police but never did.”
The woman later learned that the bouncers could not step foot outside the Border because the restaurant/bar has been previously sued for breaking up a fight outside of their jurisdiction.
“We filed a report that night, but held it until the next day because we didn’t know how extreme it was until we found out they had done it so many times,” she explains. “We just actually called District Three and had a policeman come down and tell us what to do.”
At midnight on Jan. 30, Deblois was arrested and put into custody in Douglas County Jail. Deblois’s bail was set at $1,500 and he posted bond the same day, according to police reports.
At midnight on Jan. 31, Gajic was arrested and taken into custody in Denver City Jail. Gajic posted bond at $5,036, according to police reports.
Last Thursday, Gajic had a preliminary hearing on the charges of the felony and was bound over for trial. The trial date has not been set.
In interviews with the Clarion, Gajic confirmed that he was removed from the lacrosse team because of this incident, but declined further comment because of the pending trial.
Richardson, who was dropped from the lacrosse team, declined comment on the January incident, but said about his ejection, “I did consume alcohol after a game on the road against Bellarmine, which is against team policy; however the precedent set for discipline for breaking this policy is not consistent with being released and this is why it is so confusing.”
Richardson added, “Two of the coaches Jamie [Munro] and Jon [Torpey] brought me into their office and Jamie told me I was being released from the team based on my conduct. This was slightly confusing, as I have never been in trouble with the University or the law.”
The woman who was assaulted cited excessive alcohol consumption as a primary reason for the attack on her and her friend.
“I mean they have been involved in a lot of different conflicts like this when they are drinking too much. Once this happened to us we found out about a lot of different people they have gotten into a fight with. They pick someone out in a bar and don’t know them for any reason and pretty much just mess with them,” she said.
The woman said she is “extremely happy” that she and her friend had the “nerve” to go to the police.
“I just think it’s ridiculous that these college kids can pretty much get away with whatever they want because the school thinks that they need them for popularity or publicity,” she said.
