An MSUM student has accused members of the Dragon football team of assaulting him at a party near campus.
During the incident at a Fifth Avenue residence, referred to in a police report as “the football house,” Eddie Bosl suffered a broken jaw that needed to be wired shut and a cut to the left side of his forehead. In the police report, Bosl said he was at the March 28-29 party for about 30 to 45 minutes and was punched one or two times in the face after he made a comment about how the football team this year “kind of sucked.” Then, according to the report, he said he was pushed down a flight of stairs and several others continued to hit him as he repeatedly said, “I’m sorry.”
Through his friends, Bosl heard that members of the football team were among the people who hit him, and he provided police with a list of possible suspects, including junior safety Anthony Binford, sophomore defensive back Chris Binford and sophomore linebacker Andrew Pittman.
Moorhead police Lt. Tory Jacobson said in an email that no charges are being requested against anyone, and the investigation is over.
“There are different stories and information that changes over time, thus making it a difficult investigation to know what exactly happened and who the aggressor really is,” he wrote.
But MSUM athletic director Doug Peters said he is working with the Office of Student Conduct and Resolution “to get a better picture about what happened.”
He said he became aware of the incident through social media and decided he needed to look into it.
“In my time here, I have not seen an incident like this alleged one,” Peters said.
Whether disciplinary action occurs or not, he said, “depends on how the details unfold.”
Student Conduct and Resolution director Ashley Atteberry said state and federal privacy law prevents her from releasing any information about any investigation or whether one even exists.
In a Facebook message, Bosl confirmed to The Advocate that football players beat him, but despite agreeing to an interview, he later declined without explanation.
Several witnesses provided police with incomplete, contradictory or unclear accounts of what happened.
MSUM student Kelsey Slattery told police and The Advocate that she believes she saw Anthony Binford jump into a crowd and hit Bosl. She also heard the junior safety “is very concerned about getting in trouble for the assault that had occurred,” according to a police report.
Another person at the party, Katie Peters, said she saw the scuffle between Bosl and who she believes to be Anthony Binford.
Nik Newville, an MSUM biology and biochemistry sophomore, said he witnessed the downstairs part of the fight, during which a crowd of about 10 people ganged up on Bosl. Newville said, “It had to have been” members of the football team.
In a follow-up interview at the police station on April 23, Anthony Binford admitted he “reached out his right hand in an open hand manner and pushed Bosl’s face away as if to tell Bosl that he needed to step back and not get into his face,” according to a police report. He said he doesn’t know how Bosl ended up downstairs or what happened there. He also denied causing any physical harm to Bosl.
In a Facebook message, Anthony Binford said he’d rather not comment.
“I don’t want to say anything because people will say what they want to say,” he wrote. “All I got to say is that (Bosl) did not get jumped and he was not also innocent.”
BY BRYCE HAUGEN & CASSIE COWLER
Email