Nick Thomas got a call about his son on March 8 that no parent wants to hear.
His son had been badly beaten in a dorm on campus at the University of South Florida.
“It was a parents nightmare, obviously,” said Thomas.
On that night, just as spring break was starting, Thomas says his son had been at a large off campus party and they all walked back to the dorm area for safety.
Thomas says his son walked two female students up to their dorm room and when he arrived, trouble started immediately.
“When they, the group of the two ladies, arrived at the dorm it became apparent that the two ladies were in a dispute with two non-student boys. But what basically ensued was that my son found himself in a girls’ dorm room with two boys and two girls who were having a dispute. The boys were being aggressive with the girls. My son stood up and put his body in between them and both boys hammered him,” said Thomas.
According to a media release sent to News Channel 8 by university police, all four people involved were acquaintances and alcohol was involved.
Although he didn’t know it at the time, Thomas says his son’s jaw was broken.
We are not identifying his son because he is the apparent victim of a crime.
The next day he went to file a police report. Thomas says USF police know who attacked his son, but they never did anything to arrest them.
“There is this police veil of secrecy where they won’t tell you anything that’s going on,” said Thomas.
The USF Police Department says they can’t comment on the case and the information has been turned over to the state attorney’s office to see if arrests and prosecution are appropriate.
Thomas thinks there has been more than enough time to make a decision about the case and to make arrests.
“You would think this would be the biggest crime that ever took place on that campus and every one just treats this as just meh,” said Thomas.
The USF police force says assaults on campus are rare. There were just four reported in all of 2018.
