Student accused of attacking professor

20-year-old arrested on several charges, including assault.

A University of Dayton student is in custody in relation to Friday’s attack on a professor in Miriam Hall.

A 20-year-old junior engineering student has been charged with robbery, vandalism, aggravated menacing, aggravated assault and resisting arrest, according to a statement from the university. The university did not identify the student.

Around noon on Friday, UD police responded to a call about a man who allegedly tried to forcibly take money from a worker putting up a tent near Kennedy Union on 300 College Park, chief of police and executive director of public safety Rodney Chatman wrote in a letter to the UD campus community Saturday.

Police were unable to find the suspect when they arrived but received another call at 12:27 p.m. that a faculty member in Miriam Hall had been surprised and pushed against a wall by a similarly described man. When police arrived, people were evacuating the building because a fire alarm had been pulled by an unknown person. The faculty member was not injured.

An officer pursued a fleeing man who fit the description of the assailant down Stewart Street. The man fought the officer, tried to grab the officer’s gun and wrestle it away and said he would shoot the officer, Chatman’s letter said. The man, was taken into custody and treated for a non-serious injury. The officer was not injured.

“University of Dayton police responded to this rapidly evolving and uncertain situation with professionalism and speed,” Chatman said. “Only a short amount of time elapsed from the time police were notified to when the suspect was taken into custody. Since the situation was clarified and resolved very quickly, it did not rise to the level of an emergency notification.”

This incident occurred on the third day of classes. Students moved back to campus last weekend and returned to classes Wednesday.