ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
Authorities are tight-lipped about a brawl on College Avenue early Saturday that left two people injured. One of the injured is a member of Virginia Tech's men's track team who says he was beaten by 15 to 20 Virginia Tech football players.
Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Brown said he would not comment on whether Virginia Tech athletes were involved in the brawl.
Hilliard Sumner III of Bronx, N.Y., suffered a broken collarbone in the fray, which began at 2 a.m. in front of Squires Student Center. It was a verbal altercation that turned physical, he said.
Sumner said he was hit, kicked and beaten with a cane, but that the commonwealth's attorney advised him not to give details of the case at this time.
Sumner credited five football players with helping break up the fight.
"They're not all bad," he said.
Sumner and his friend Jonathan Nelson were injured in the fight. Nelson suffered bruises, but Sumner took the brunt of the beating. Besides the broken collarbone, his jaw was swollen for three days to the point that he could not bite on his back teeth, he said.
The entire right side of Sumner's body is covered with bruises. Sumner said he was unable to put his weight on one leg for a day and a half.
Virginia Tech men's track coach Russ Whitenack said Sumner's injuries appeared more severe at first, but he thinks Sumner will be able to start practice next month.
But Sumner said his coach seemed to be discouraging him from pressing charges.
"I really don't believe he is on my side," Sumner said.
Sumner said Whitenack told him at one point that Sumner couldn't afford the legal battle despite the fact that the case would be prosecuted at state expense.
When confronted with those allegations, Whitenack said he did tell Sumner to go through the Athletic Department first, and if he wasn't satisfied, any number of options would be open to him.
Whitenack said he was a little disappointed in Sumner for being out that late and the fight "could have been a lot worse."
Sumner said he expected more support from Whitenack.
"It hurts me because he's my coach," Sumner said. "I've given him everything I had."
Whitenack called Sumner "a great kid" who holds the school record for the 200-meter dash.
The bottom line, according to Whitenack, is that the guilty party should be punished and he is not the one to say who that is. He said he did not know who was at fault, but that he attended a meeting with Sumner and head football coach Frank Beamer.
Whitenack said Beamer was "furious" about the situation and promised to punish any players involved.
Earlier Thursday, one football player was suspended for one game, but a news release did not list the reason for the suspension. Beamer and other athletic officials could not be reached for comment, because the team was headed out of town for a game.
Police would not release the number of people involved in the fight but said there were more than five. Brown said no charges have been filed in the case.
"It's an ongoing investigation," Brown said.
Brown said he could not say when charges would be filed but that "we are working vigorously on the case because it involves personal injury."
The fight broke out in front of Squires and moved down the street to College Avenue and Draper Road before the fighting stopped. Brown said the fight lasted several minutes.
Phil Keith, Montgomery County commonwealth's attorney, said he would not comment on the case at this time.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB