Charlottesville police have apprehended three gang members in connection with the alleged assault of two University students last month. According to police, the suspects may be associated with a group known as "D-Block," one of five known gangs in the city.
One suspect, 27-year-old Charlottesville resident Paul Nathaniel Jones, is shown in police photographs with the group's name tattooed on his right arm, a common method of gang identification. Jones is charged with two counts of mob assault and active participation in a criminal street gang, in addition to one count of recruitment of a juvenile to become a member of a criminal street gang.
A 17-year-old juvenile, whose name is being withheld by police, was charged with mob assault and active participation in a criminal street gang. Eighteen-year-old Dustin Tyler Knighton also was charged with two counts of mob assault.
All three currently are incarcerated.
The charges stem from an alleged assault on two Engineering students, second-year Brian Welsh and third-year Ricky Yau, who chairs the Student Council safety concerns committee. The pair reported being attacked near the corner of 17th Street and Gordon Avenue shortly after leaving a party at Phi Sigma Kappa around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 21.
Charlottesville Police Capt. Chip Harding said police responded to other similar incidents of alleged assault that same evening. Though he said he wouldn't speculate as to the suspects' motives, Harding said police were investigating potential gang-related activity.
In 1991, six people were attacked by members of a gang known as "Candyman" as part of an initiation ritual.
"A few years ago some students were beaten up to become part of a gang," he said. "We're certainly not discounting the fact this could have been an initiation."
At the time of the attack, Yau reported that he heard racial remarks, including at least one racial epithet, by one of the assailants.
Stating that racial slurs were not a factor in the investigation, Harding said the assault was not being treated as a hate crime.
"The evidence suggests they were just going to beat up the next people coming down the sidewalk," he said.
Welsh said he has since returned to the scene of the alleged attack, though he has been a little more cautious.
"I've been out again in the same area," he said. "But it's been with a bigger group and not as late at night."
Although the students allegedly were assaulted off Grounds, Welsh said the University could take steps to ensure the safety of its students.
"I think a lot of the University isn't well-lit," Welsh said. "Extra lighting would help to deter people"
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