David Bohenick
10 hours ago
3 min read

7 SU students charged with alleged hate crime off-campus

Seven Salisbury University students were arrested on assault and hate crime charges in connection with an attack that the Salisbury Police Department says occurred at an off-campus apartment complex. The incident happened in University Park, a nearby apartment complex, on Oct. 15, according to police.

Police say detectives met with witnesses and obtained cell phone footage of the victim being assaulted by several college-aged men. According to CBS, police discovered that one of the men created a Grindr account and posed as a 16-year-old to lure the victim to their residence where he was then assaulted.

The victim told police when he entered the apartment he was surrounded by a group of college-aged-men who forced him to sit in a chair, punched him, kicked him, spit on him and called him derogatory names. The victim tried leaving multiple times but was thrown onto the floor every time. … The assault lasted for several minutes until the victim was finally allowed to leave, according to police. He was left with bruises all over his body and a broken rib.

Police identified Ryder Baker, 20, Bennan Aird, 18, Riley Brister, 20, Cruz Cespedes, 19, Dylan Earp, 20, Elijah Johnson, 19, and Zachary Leinemann, 18, as seven of the alleged perpetrators. All seven suspects were charged with first-degree assault, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment and other associated hate crime charges. … According to CBS, the victim believes he was targeted because of his sexual orientation. Police haven’t shared if the victim was an SU student.

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