A Binghamton University men’s basketball player was arrested Sunday and charged with second-degree assault, a felony, after police said he repeatedly kicked a BU student in the head early Sunday morning in a Downtown bar.
Miladin “Minja” Kovacevic, a 20-year-old sophomore from Serbia, was accused of causing serious head injuries to an unidentified BU student inside the Rathskeller night club on 92 State St. in Binghamton.
Binghamton City Police received a call about the incident at 1:23 a.m. and responded moments later, said Lt. John Chapman. The bar was open during the incident and police said there were witnesses.
Kovacevic wasn’t at the bar when officers arrived. But Binghamton’s New York State University Police spotted him in a parking lot on the Vestal campus at 12:40 p.m Sunday and detained him until Binghamton City police detectives transported him to the Binghamton police station.
Kovacevic was arraigned Monday morning before Judge Palella at Binghamton City Court and was remanded without bail to Broome County Jail. He pled not guilty to the assault charge, and his next court appearance has not been scheduled.
He was summarily suspended from BU in connection with the assault.
Police could not disclose which hospital the victim was transported to or any more information about the victim, but a BU spokeswoman confirmed the victim was a student.
No other arrests were made. Police said they are not certain if Kovacevic acted alone and did not say what sparked the alleged violence. The incident is still under investigation by Binghamton and University police.
Kovacevic, a 6-foot-9-inch, 260-pound forward played in 18 games for BU’s Division I men’s basketball team as a freshman, in the 2006-07 season. He was redshirted in the 2007-08 season, the first under Bearcats head coach Kevin Broadus, due to injury. He averaged 1.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9.3 minutes per game.
John Hartrick, associate director of communications and sports information at BU, referred all sports questions Monday to BU spokeswoman Gail Glover, who gave no information about Kovacevic’s fate on the basketball team.
Andrew Urso, a co-owner of the Rathskeller, declined to comment.
University staff have met with the student’s family to provide assistance. Counseling Center staff are meeting with friends of the victim to provide support as needed.
AN ANGEL CARRIED HIM
One person, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she was on the raised part of the dance floor right next to the students during the beating.
“Two guys came up and started beating on one kid,” she said. “He was out after two hits but they kept hitting and kicking him.”
The incident was out of the view of the bouncers, she said, and the two males ran off.
“People were checking for his pulse because he was unconscious,” she said.
The night club was holding a Studio 54-themed party that night, and the witness claimed to have been dancing with a male dressed like an angel.
“The angel picked him up and carried him to the back of the bar,” she said.
The witness purportedly saw blood on the dance floor coming from a slash on the victim’s head.
“It all happened really quickly … for a few minutes, maybe three at the most,” she said. “I think a lot of people didn’t even notice.”
Another witness said he saw 5 males bring the victim to the kitchen area to try to stop the bleeding. The males called an ambulance. Police arrived to investigate the crime scene, he said.
“And I can guarantee you that like barely anyone even knew that someone got hurt,” he said, “and that people were still just partying and having a good time.”
Paul Liggieri, a BU junior, was manning the front entrance during the incident.
“He was carried out of the bar, very quickly might I add, and was handed off to be handled by the proper authorities,” he said.
Liggieri said he couldn’t see much because he was busy attending to the crowd outside the club.
“Because there was a crowd that night and with the lights they have down there, people may not have seen it,” Liggieri said.
—Evan Drellich contributed reporting to this article