By: Pattrik Simmons/Contributing Writer
The football game against the University of Central Florida may have been a victory for FIU, but not for some of its students.
Four male students, whose names cannot be disclosed, were arrested at the game, which took place on Sept. 17 in the FIU Stadium. Two of those males were charged with trespassing after warning; one of those two was also charged with resisting arrest. Another male was charged with disorderly conduct and a fourth male was charged with battery on a police officer. All four were sent to Miami-Dade County Jail for processing.
“Everybody who is arrested and is a student gets sent to judicial before they get processed. They also get processed in the judicial system here at FIU,” said Captain Alphonse Ianniello, operations commander and investigations for the University Police Department.
According to a student advisory notice regarding the Stadium rules, which can be found online in the FIU Recreation Services website, “Students involved in such activities or other disruptive behavior will also be subject to disciplinary action through the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution.” Disciplinary action at the University can include anything from written reprimand to loss of privileges — and even suspension or expulsion.
Five other people were also ejected from the game, according to Ianniello.
“I saw someone get ejected from the FIU student area, and I saw a drunk guy get escorted out,” said freshman Victoria Capobianco, a member of the University’s Performance Ensemble. “I think [the attendees] were a little more out of control than usual, but it was nothing out of the ordinary.”
There were also several requests for medical services.
“We had 12 medical calls, which could be anything from fainting to tripping to being too drunk. None of them serious; nobody had to go to the hospital or anything like that. They were all minor,” said Ianniello.
Twenty-three FIU Police officers were patrolling the stands at the Stadium — which opened its doors that night to a record-breaking attendance of more than 20,000 people — along with 17 Miami-Dade Police Department officers and 11 Sweetwater Police Department officers.
“We had more officers than usual because we knew it was going to be a sold-out game, and it was our rivalry,” Ianniello said.
Although these four arrests did occur, Ianniello reassured that the police department had everything under control. “Believe it or not, that wasn’t that bad for a football game of that size.”