by Todd Pringle
Senior Staff Writer
A credit card theft, loose lips and prying ears may have culminated in a seven-man assault against University of Houston student Dennis Rogers Feb. 11.
Five UH students were arrested last Thursday and charged with a Class A misdemeanor assault. At least two others are being pursued by police, said UH Police Lt. Helia Durant.
Despite cuts above his eyebrow and right ear and bruises on his back, Rogers said Monday he did not plan to press charges, although an arraignment hearing is slated for Thursday.
The assailants allegedly knocked on the door of a sixth-floor Moody Towers room where Rogers was and began hitting him on the head and back after Rogers answered the door. The fight broke up when two females, the room's occupants, began screaming.
Rogers said he has considered dropping the charges. "I don't want to see anybody get kicked out of school," he said. "I don't want to have to tell my mother about this, because she might make me come back home."
Rogers said he believes he was targeted for the assault because one of the alleged assailants is also a suspect in an ongoing credit-card theft investigation, but cannot be named until he is charged with the crime. The other six combatants are friends - a "posse," Rogers said.
"It was just, like, a misunderstanding," Rogers said Thursday. "Me and this boy got into it ... "
The situation started in the Moody Towers Commons where, Rogers said, he was talking to two other students about the alleged credit-card theft, in which $1,500 worth of items were allegedly purchased using a stolen MasterCard.
One of the alleged combatants, standing nearby, overheard the conversation and confronted Rogers.
"He started jumping all in my face," Rogers said. "He said (the theft) is none of my business."
"We fought in there, (and) then we took it outside," said Rogers, who described the indoor altercation as more of a shoving match.
Outside, he added, "I got the best of him ... His lip was bleeding."
UHPD Lt. Malcolm Davis said Rogers was discussing an unspecified case being investigated by UHPD. However, he declined to say whether the missing credit card was the subject of the conversation.
He did say that Rogers caused the first fight that day.
After the fight, Rogers said, he went to his room and later visited two female Towers residents.
The assault occurred a short while later, after the assailants were allegedly let into the room. After the women started screaming, the combatants dispersed, Rogers said.
"Most of them were hitting me when I was down," Rogers said, explaining the bruises on his back. The room's female occupants were not injured.
Sean Pierce, an assistant area coordinator, said there is no record of any fight that day in the Commons or on the sixth floor.
"I would be informed or would hear about any other incidents that happen in both Towers or the Commons," Pierce said.
Four of the suspects were arrested Thursday. Another was arrested at around 5 p.m., Durant said.
Monday, three of the suspects were back in their Towers rooms after posting bail last Friday.
One of the suspects said he was confident the charges would be dropped, adding that he is ready for the arraignment hearing.
"Now we just have to go through the formalities," said undeclared freshman Aubry Hart, one of the alleged assailants.
If convicted, each student could face a $4,000 fine, up to one year in jail, or both.