6 arrested in alleged Southern University band hazing

BATON ROUGE, LA. — Six men face charges linked to an alleged hazing incident that has hospitalized at least two members of Southern University’s band.

Harvey Harrison, of Augusta, Ga., and Carlos-Andres Carter, of Stone Mountain, Ga., both 19, were arrested Tuesday on charges of aggravated second-degree battery and ritualistic acts, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said. Both men remained in the East Baton Rouge Parish jail with bond set at $15,000, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Kellie Engels. Neither had attorneys listed.

Four more suspects were arrested late Tuesday on the same charges, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities identified them as Jeremy Dixon, 22, of Natchez, Miss., Joseph L. Webb, 21, of Columbus, Ga., Lagarian Bridgewater, 22, of Baton Rouge and Aubrey Harris Jr., 20, of Canton, Miss. Bond information was not immediately available.

According to a probable cause report released by the sheriff’s office, three members of the band were beaten last Thursday with a two-by-four wooden board as part of an initiation into the band’s French horn section. Two of the victims have since been hospitalized and are in serious condition in the intensive care unit at a Baton Rouge hospital. Their names have not been released. The third person withdrew from the alleged initiation, sheriff’s deputies said. Engels did not know whether he was injured.

According to a witness, “the three subjects were blindfolded and told to remove their shirts,” as part of the alleged initiation ritual, the report said.

“They then had water splashed on them as senior members of the organization struck them numerous times with open hands. The three victims were then told to bend over at the waist, and the senior members began striking them numerous times with a large wooden board, commonly referred to as a two-by-four. One victim elected to stop the ritual after he had been struck over 50 times with the board,” the report said.

In a statement to sheriff’s investigators, the witness identified seven members of the band’s French horn section as being present and participating in the ritual.

The alleged incident happened at a home on McClure Road in East Baton Rouge Parish as part of a hazing ritual to be “initiated into an unofficial fraternity known as 'Mellow Phi Fellow’ for the French horn section of the band,” the probable cause report said.

The band took part in Saturday’s annual Bayou Classic football game in New Orleans, featuring Southern University and Grambling State. Grambling defeated Southern, 29-14