MARK KARPF
In about six minutes, a Lincoln house received at least $7,500 worth of damage, the lives of 11 men were changed and the blood of those involved was all over the floor and walls.
Neighbor John Harris, who helped clean up the mess, said if he didn’t know any better he would have thought someone died in the basement.
“It was definitely a bloody mess,” said Chad Johnson, who lived in the house and is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln junior and a 165-pound wrestler on the UNL team.
The incident that ended in the bloody scene started near 22nd and Orchard streets, during the early morning of Sept. 10, with a verbal exchange and some shoving.
Officer Katherine Finnell of the Lincoln Police Department said 10-15 people were involved in an argument over a person slapping the side of a red SUV as it drove by.
Johnson said the SUV, filled with four UNL wrestlers, stopped and the men got out to see what happened to the side of the vehicle and an argument ensued with the individual.
Finnell states the in the LPD reports, Cody Millard, a UNL freshman and 197-pound wrestler was interviewed. Millard told police that during the initial argument and shoving match he lost his phone. He said the wrestlers returned to Johnson’s residence.
John Harris, Chad Johnson’s neighbor said that he returned home that night between 11:15 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Harris said he saw a group of his neighbors and their friends in the street talking about “getting some revenge.” He said Chad Johnson was being the voice of reason, trying to talk people down.
Millard told police that he and some more people returned to the 22nd and Orchard area.
Which Scott Kerrey, a 2005 Lincoln Northeast High School graduate who was at the initial scene and was later arrested that night, confirms.
The group of UNL wrestlers and others began another argument and shoving match.
Multiple witnesses said UNL freshman Jake Lewis, who’s listed as a 147-pound wrestler on the Husker Wrestling Web site – who had his arm in a sling – head-butted someone.
Head wrestling coach Mark Manning said Lewis is not on the team anymore.
Johnson said he didn’t see who hit whom after that, but he did hear two people hit the ground.
“I don’t know if the guys got up,” he said.
Then Kerrey, said he described the man who hit the two victims as about 6-foot-1, 215-pounds and “ripped.”
Kerrey said the man also threw a bottle at the back of a 13-year-old child.
Witnesses and Chad Johnson later identified the man as Matthew Farrell, a UNL sophomore and 184-pound wrestler.
It was then that both Kerrey and Johnson said they tried to talk their respective parties into backing off and leaving.
Johnson said he and the wrestlers got back in the SUV and went to his residence, six blocks away on the 1700 block of 22nd Street.
LPD reports show a call was made to 911 at 12:30 a.m., with police arriving on the scene at 12:33. But officers told dispatch they didn’t see anyone at the scene of the street scuffle.
Finnell said LPD has no reports of anyone being assaulted at 22nd and Orchard streets on file.
Officer Jason Goodwin said officers did not do a follow-up, because no one told them that an assault took place.
Kerrey said before the police arrived, he and 10 other men jumped into his black Lincoln Navigator and headed toward Johnson’s house.
Upon the Navigator’s arrival, Johnson and his friends went inside the house and locked the front door.
Kerrey said Duane Shields, also a 2005 Lincoln Northeast graduate and state wrestler, began ramming the house’s front door with a bat. Shield’s current address is the Lancaster County Correctional facility at Airpark, where he is serving time for prior charges.
Kerrey said he and another individual – who he would not identify because the individual ran away when the police later arrived – threw two lawn chairs through a picture window.
The 11 individuals poured into the residence, breaking a glass dinning room table and other pieces of furniture.
Some people originally seeking protection in the house ran out the back door, while others ran downstairs.
Johnson said he stumbled down the stairs, while another man jumped down the stairs after him.
At this point police accounts of the incident become unclear because of the speed at which the events happened, darkness of the basement and discrepancies between stories.
However, witnesses say Kerrey and Christian “Tyler” McClanahan, a 2005 Lincoln Northeast graduate and former high school wrestler, came down the stairs. McClanahan went left into a bedroom, where he was hit in the face with a baseball bat by Lewis.
Witnesses said Stefan Tighe, a UNL freshman and 285-pound wrestler, was attacked by two or three individuals.
“Stefan got ruffed up pretty good,” Johnson said.
Kerrey said he rushed Farrell into the bathroom where they crashed into the shower.
He said Farrell choked him out, a wrestling move utilizing pressure points, and Kerrey collapsed.
It was then that University Police reports indicate Michael Gregory, also a 2005 Lincoln Northeast graduate, pulled out a butterfly knife with a four-inch blade and threatened Lewis with it.
Fighting ensued throughout the basement.
LPD dispatch reports a call was made to 911 at 12:39 a.m.
Kerrey said someone yelled “cops” and all of the suspects ran up the stairs and out the door.
Lincoln police officer Goodwin was the first to arrive on the scene shortly after.
Goodwin said there were “quite a lot of people there,” and he drew his gun in the front yard and told everyone to get down on the ground.
“Somebody said they thought there was a gun (at the scene),” Goodwin said. “But we never found one.”
Goodwin said many fled the scene, including Shields, who was quickly caught.
Goodwin said at least eight LPD cruisers arrived at the house, in addition to University Police.
Kerrey said after everyone, including him and the wrestlers, were on the ground, Lewis came out of the house and told the police to let the wrestlers go.
Police told Lewis to join everyone else on the ground but he refused because of his previously injured arm, which was in a sling.
Kerrey said Lewis then approached Kerrey and began kicking him in the face, causing a cut above his eye and leaving a footprint on his face. Goodwin confirmed that he did hear reports of that happening.
University Police reports indicate Kerrey was found unresponsive in the front yard with a foot imprint on his face.
With all of the suspects and victims under control, police were able to survey the damage done in the few minutes.
Goodwin said there were “pretty big spots” of blood in the two bedrooms and living room.
“There were a lot of facial injuries with cuts,” he said. “And they tend to bleed more.”
“It was pretty violent,” said Patrick Aleksanyan, a UNL freshman and 133-pound wrestler who lived at the house with Johnson and another roommate who was not present at the fight.
“We put up a pretty good fight,” Aleksanyan, who received a broken nose during the incident, said. “We fought until the cops got there.”
Johnson estimates the whole fight happened in about six minutes.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue was called to the scene and at least three individuals, including Tighe, Kerrey and McClanahan, were transported to BryanLGH West.
Johnson received a ride from a friend to the hospital for stitches and a staple in his head. He suffered a bat to the hip and broken glass in his feet – injuries that kept him out of practice for a few weeks.
Goodwin said alcohol was involved.
The next day, Johnson said he told the wrestling coaches what happened.
“We got an ass chewing, basically,” he said.
Johnson said some of the wrestlers had to attend a few counseling meetings because alcohol was involved.
“We’ve dealt with this from our team’s aspect,” coach Mark Manning said. “And there’s no comment regarding this.”
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In the aftermath, Gregory, Shields, McClanahan and Kerrey were arrested for first-degree criminal trespass and criminal mischief and third-degree disturbing the peace – all misdemeanors.
Gregory was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and Shields was charged with failure to comply.
Kerrey pleaded to pretrial diversion and the three other men will be arraigned today and are expected to plea not guilty.
In all, five UNL wrestlers were victims in the incident and Lewis is listed as a University Police witness.
In Lancaster County, property damages must exceed $1,500 to bring felony charges. Police reports show that there was $1,050 in damage to the house.
However, Craig Johnson, a lawyer in Broomfield, Colo., father of Chad Johnson and owner of the house, said there was more then $7,500 in damage, not including medical expenses or personal property lost.
Craig Johnson said he gave receipts of the repairs to the Lancaster County Attorney’s office on Monday.
“I’m not going to comment on my charging decisions,” said Amy Jacobsen, deputy county attorney. “I can’t comment on a pending case.”
Craig Johnson said he is selling the house, which he bought in July 2004.No one has spent the night at the house since the fight because they felt unsafe, said Linda Johnson, also of Broomfield, Colo., and Chad’s mother.
Linda Johnson said people tend to focus on the legal and financial side of things and forget about the trauma involved.
She said sometimes people at the county attorney’s office forget that, too.
“We thought we had a safe place for our son to live,” Linda Johnson said.
She said Chad Johnson told her he was in a fight for his life.
“I saw how freaked out those young men were,” Linda Johnson said. “And they were basically homeless during this situation.”
It was a lot to deal with, especially at the beginning of the semester, she said.
“It’s really unfair when people get victimized like this,” she said. “(But) we found the boys another home and they’re finally getting settled.”
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