Wrestlers charged in assault at Rutgers party
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Meredith Wilson (Courier News)
10/13/2003
NEW BRUNSWICK -- Twin brothers from Bound Brook are among those charged in a Rutgers University attack early Sunday morning that left two students hospitalized in critical condition. Seven young men face charges in connection with the incident, which occurred about 3:30 a.m. at 95 College Ave., according to First Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor William Lamb. When Rutgers police arrived, a large number of people were at the scene, including members of Squam, an unregulated fraternity; Rutgers fraternity Sigma Pi; and the Rutgers wrestling team. Squam had put on a social function Saturday night that continued into Sunday morning, Lamb said. According to the prosecutor's office, 23-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez of Bound Brook, a former member of the wrestling team, struck two members of Squam on the head with a baseball bat. The victims, John P. Morin, 20, of Cliffside Park and Robert J. Morgan, also 20, of Pine Beach were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, suffering from blunt trauma to the head. Both students were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit. Morin is a junior at University College, where he is a pre-business major. Also a junior, Morgan majors in biological science at Rutgers College. A former Rutgers student who intended to re-enroll in the winter, Rodriguez faces multiple charges, including unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of aggravated assault and conspiracy to riot. His twin brother, Cook College senior and wrestling team member Kenneth Rodriguez, was charged with conspiracy, weapon possession and hindering apprehension. Cook College sophomore Christopher Gorick faces charges of conspiracy to riot and fighting. The 19-year-old Oceanport resident is a member of Sigma Pi, according to Lamb. Bound Brook resident Derek Michaelowski, a 22-year-old Franklin and Marshall College student acquainted with the Rodriguez brothers, was charged with conspiracy to riot. Authorities have charged three Rutgers students who were not in custody Sunday night. They include Justin Smigelsky, 20, of Old Bridge, a wrestling team member charged with conspiracy to riot; Roy Sous, 19, a sophomore charged with conspiracy to riot and hindering an investigation; and David Mallow, age unknown, a Brick Township resident enrolled at the university's Newark campus, also charged with conspiracy to riot and hindering. Three complaints also were issued against other participants in the fight, although they are known only by nicknames, Lamb said. Authorities Sunday night were waiting for the arrival of New Brunswick Municipal Court Judge Ralph Stanzione. The prosecutor's office requested bail be set at $300,000 for Jonathan Rodriguez, $100,000 for his brother and $10,000 for the other defendants.