Bohn says Athletic Department embarrassed by recent football assaults
CU’s Athletic Department is facing scrutiny once again for the recent arrests of two football players on suspicion of assault charges.
Tight-end junior history major Riar Geer and freshman five-star football recruit Lynn Katoa were arrested March 14 for unrelated incidents.
CU Athletic Director Mike Bohn said the arrests have harmed the reputation of CU’s Athletic Department.
“It’s embarrassing, it’s frustrating and we’re troubled by it,” Bohn said. “We spend a lot of time, energy and resources to educate our players about the importance of being able to walk away and to do the right thing.”
Geer is scheduled for his first court appearance on Friday at 2 p.m. at the Boulder County Jail. He has yet to be charged.
According to the District Attorney’s office in Boulder, Geer has been released on bond.
Police say Geer was arrested March 14 on suspicion of second-degree assault and harassment. Geer allegedly assaulted two victims, freshman civil engineering major Hunter Wright and freshman management major Alexander Williams, outside a party that night.
In the police report, freshman open option major James Busse stated that he and some friends were standing on the front yard when two suspects walked up to him.
“The tall suspect grabbed his hat off his head and threw it into a tree,” the report said. “He got his hat back on and the suspect again grabbed his hat, this time throwing it into the street.”
According to the police report, Williams said he told the suspect to “stop” and to “just let it go.” He also stated in the report that the “two suspects became verbally antagonistic towards [himself] and his friend Hunter.”
According to the report, Busse said he witnessed the tall suspect strike both Williams and Wright.
In the police report, Wright stated that “he and his friends attempted to get away from the two suspects.”
The group went onto the CU campus, and the two suspects followed them, allegedly still yelling at them in attempt to get them to fight. Once on campus Wright, Williams, Busse, and their friend Mark Murnan saw a police car and flagged the officer down for help.
Police say the victims described the suspects, and CU Police Department officers arrested two males who matched the description of the suspects. The victims identified Geer as one of the suspects.
Sophomore integrative physiology major Andrew Badalamenti, Geer’s roommate, was also arrested, but as a suspect in the assault. Neither Williams nor Wright identified Badalamenti in a show-up. Badalamenti was transported to Boulder County Jail on unrelated charges.
In the report, Badalamenti told police that he was inside the house and looked outside to see Geer involved in an altercation. He then went outside and saw Geer knock a hat off an unknown male and saw the male put it back on, and then saw Geer knock it back off. Police say that Badalamenti was then punched and knocked to the ground. When Badalamenti got up, he noticed that Geer was involved in a fight.
Geer defended himself in the police report, saying that he never took Busse’s hat.
Wright, Williams, Busse, and Murnan declined to comment when contacted. Geer and Badalamenti were unable to be reached for comment.
Bohn said both Geer and Katoa have been suspended from playing football indefinitely.
“Any time a student athlete is involved in an act of violence they are immediately suspended,” Bohn said.
Bohn said dealing with Geer and Katoa getting in trouble at the same time has been difficult for the Athletic Department to deal with.
As student athletes, the two players will have to go through the legal process, the CU judicial affairs process and will have to complete any extra punishment given to them by head football coach Dan Hawkins.
“They have triple jeopardy really,” Bohn said. “They’ve got coach Hawkins, they’ve got the legal system, and they’ve got judicial affairs. So, you would think that they would begin to understand that making better decisions is a lot easier.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Emily Burrows-Poretsky at emily.burrows-poretsky@colorado.edu.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Brad Cochi at bradley.cochi@colorado.edu.
