Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Taylor Lewan is under investigation by the Ann Arbor Police Department for an assault outside the Little Brown Jug Restaurant on December 1, 2013 after the UM/Ohio State football game. The story was reported at the 247sports website [1].
Three Ohio State fans were visiting Ann Arbor for the game.
· Shortly after midnight, a crowd gathered on the sidewalk of South University Avenue in the vicinity of The Little Brown Jug. Between the road and the sidewalk front of The Little Brown Jug is a seating area with a metal fence around the perimeter.
· That night, the sidewalk was full of people when the accuser and his friends walked through the area en route to Panchero’s Mexican Grill – next to The Little Brown Jug. Unaware of the perimeter fence, one of the people in the group bumped into it and tripped.
· “We were sort of just walking by when the crowd started making a bunch of noise,” Curtis, a victim and eyewitness, told Bucknuts. “I had no idea what was going on, but the next thing I knew, the crowd parted and a huge guy in a red polo shirt came up to me and punched me in the face.”
· Unidentified bystanders came to the aid of Warren. According to both Warren and Marcus, some Michigan students helped separate the attacker from the man on the ground.
· “I was lucky people stepped in,” Warren said.
· Said Marcus: “That’s kind of when it died down. Warren got up and walked over to this white car. There were a couple of people who tried to help push us away from the attack. We were kind of recouping from everything at that point.”
· Said Warren: “I got up and walked away. I was leaning on a white car a little way down the road and thought it was over.”
· Said Marcus: “(Warren) was standing with his back towards (the car) and then the tall man in the red shirt came back and punched him right in the ribs where the sternum ends. You know, the place where they tell you not to push when you’re doing CPR? He hunched over right away and some girl who was standing there thought he broke his ribs and told him an ambulance was on the way. I don’t know why he (attacked Warren) a second time, because [the alleged attacker had] gone back into the crowd by the bar after the first punch.”
911 was called and the police and an ambulance arrived.
· When police arrived at the scene, Warren identified a tall man in a red polo shirt as the individual who punched him twice. The identification was done visually at the scene - the alleged assailant was still present - prior to Curtis being taken by ambulance to University of Michigan Medical Center.
· “The guy was towering,” Warren said of the accused. “Put it this way, he was standing 10 feet away from me and it felt like he was right on top of me. He was huge. And I pointed directly at him when the officer asked.”
· At the hospital, Warren was determined to have severely bruised ribs and facial bruising. Warren also had breathing issues for a week after the incident.
The Ann Arbor police officers did not arrest Lewan but instead were smiling and giving him high fives.
· According to Marcus, a police offer – identified from his business card given at the scene as Jason Schimelfening – brought Lewan over to stand less than five feet away while Marcus was giving his statement.
· “He was asking me to identify (Lewan) and I said, ‘Yes’ and then he asked me to re-tell my story in front of Taylor,” Marcus said. “It was extremely awkward. He was just a few feet away. It was pretty intimidating. In retrospect, I don’t believe (Officer Schimelfening) believed a word I said, or even cared to.”
· Lewan’s short-sleeved, red polo shirt did not cover his arm tattoos.
· “It was like a chain sort of thing and a cross,” Marcus said, identifying Lewan’s distinctive right forearm tattoo.
· Marcus and Curtis claim police officers on the scene made Lewan apologize.
· “[The accused] was kind of smirking when he said it,” Marcus said.
When Warren called the Ann Arbor police the following week, he was told that the case was closed. The case has since been re-opened but it is still under investigation more than three weeks after the incident. Soon the football season will be over and any opportunity for meaningful discipline by the University will be over. Hopefully the victims will have their day in an Ann Arbor court.
This adds to Taylor Lewan’s record of bad behavior including his threats to rape a rape victim is she pressed charges against his friend Brendan Gibbons[2] and his flagrant foul in the Michigan State game where he twisted the face mask of a player already on the ground[3].
[1] http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Article/Michigans-Lewan-Accused-Of-Assault-167623
[2] http://www.washtenawwatchdogs.com/4/post/2013/08/the-cover-up-of-the-arrest-of-university-of-michigan-football-player-brendan-gibbons-for-rape.html
[3] http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/11/report_taylor_lewan_will_not_b.html
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