An ordinary Friday night at Main Street's Down Under Pub turned into a confusing mess Nov. 19 when a Trinity freshman allegedly stole a beer tap and bottle of scotch, eventually spawning a scuffle. Soon afterward, Durham Police Department officers cleared out the bar with pepper spray. Three University students were arrested in the fracas.
Due to the ongoing investigation, sections of the police report were unavailable Monday evening. Police charged Trinity freshman Taylor Wray with stealing a $50 beer tap and a $115 bottle of scotch from the Down Under's bar. Wray could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
Tor Gabrielson, owner of the Down Under, said the bartender gave Wray a chance to replace the property, but the student continued to be belligerent, so bar employees called DPD.
Trinity junior Alexandra Charles, who was standing a few feet away from Wray as he tried to leave the bar, said the drunk student and the bar's bouncer were the only people involved in a shoving match near the entrance. Gabrielson said none of his employees were involved in the altercation.
When police arrived and tried to take Wray into custody, "they were confronted by several people in the pub...," said Lt. Norman Blake, a spokesperson for DPD District 2. "Several officers were assaulted by patrons."
Many students in the bar reported that as soon as DPD officers arrived at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, they began spraying pepper mace into the entire crowd. Trinity sophomore Beth Iams, who had been sitting toward the back of the bar, described the scene as very confusing. "All I remember is suddenly coughing uncontrollably. It was surreal," she said.
Although Blake had not read the full police report, he said that if the officers did use pepper spray, they likely had justification. "If you have an unruly person or an unruly crowd, you can use pepper spray in the process of taking one into custody or causing them to disperse...," he said. "Officers would not go in and arbitrarily spray a large group of people for no reason." The lead officer at the bar was off duty Monday and could not be reached for comment.
Charles said that immediately after officers sprayed the bar, several of them took Wray to the ground. Wray was arrested on charges of larceny and resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer. He was also served on Saturday with a warrant for underage consumption and possession of alcohol.
Charles said that after she was sprayed with the mace, she began having an asthma attack, and her boyfriend began yelling for police officers to help her. Between 10 and 12 minutes after the attack started, she said, an emergency medical technician began assisting her. In the meantime, her boyfriend, Trinity junior Stuart Schwartz, walked away from the scene to cool down. Several police officers followed him and arrested him for disorderly conduct, Charles said.
Later, as an EMT was administering saline solution to Schwartz's mace-irritated eyes, Schwartz spit out excess solution, Charles said. For spitting, Schwartz was charged with a misdemeanor assault on a public officer, she said. Schwartz declined to comment due to pending legal action.
Trinity senior Kim Cahill was also charged with resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer. She could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
Greg Pessin and Richard Rubin contributed to this story.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.