University of Michigan student charged with assaulting Notre Dame football fan
A University of Michigan student accused of sucker-punching a Notre Dame student before the schools squared off on the football field in September was arraigned today.
Alexander Gordon Mueller, 21, is charged with aggravated assault, Ann Arbor police said. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, he faces up to a year in jail.
Mueller is accused of hitting the 20-year-old man on Sept. 12 as an argument among several football fans was settling down, police Det. Dave Monroe said.
The victim suffered injuries that included a cut lip and swollen nose, police have said. He told police at the time he believed he was assaulted because he was wearing a shirt bearing his university's name. Witnesses told police the attacker was wearing U-M basketball clothing.
The victim was with a 25-year-old male friend who attends U-M when the incident occurred at about 2 p.m. at State Street and McKinley Avenue, police said. It was about 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
This afternoon, 15th District Court Judge Christopher Easthope ordered Mueller to have no contact with the victim. Easthope granted a request by Mueller's attorney, Joe Simon, to allow Mueller to travel out of state for the holidays. Mueller's father attended the hearing to show support.
Simon had no comment after the hearing. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Jan. 12.
Comments
Bill
Thu, Dec 3, 2009 : 1:42 a.m.
"The victim was with a 25-year-old male friend who attends U-M"? A 21 year old UM student hit a 20 year old Notre Dame student. Who is this 25 year old?
hometown23
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 11:19 p.m.
@David...I was wrong about Shaw having a helmet on...I stand corrected. I still think it was a minor incident involving both players. That stuff goes on all the time in sports albeit usually without cameras around. The media just used it to promote their highlight shows.
tdw
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 12:54 p.m.
hey these comments are for the wrong story
Pete Bigelow
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 12:09 p.m.
A comment has been removed from this thread because it contained name-calling.
james Kurtz
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : noon
On A2 comment: The OSU person who asked for the bump was a coaching assistant who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Players coming out of the tunnel are not in a gentle, pacifistic mood Loki; wake up.
walker101
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 11:54 a.m.
Just another trend in our society, much like a soccer matchs they have all over the world, more fights and violence in the stands than the game itself. So sorry to hear a such a classless act, it'll be just a matter of time before someone gets killed over a stupid game.
SemperFi
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 10:04 a.m.
A bit of pre game jousting that commentators juiced up to make themselves relevant. That stuff happens all the time. Get over it. If you watch the video you'll notice that the OSU player brought his hands up to push Shaw in the chest. Yes, he's a player. There are several who follow dressed in the same shorts and underarmor without pads. As for the criminal who assaulted the ND fan, he should be treated as any other criminal. This is not representitive of Michigan fans.
Dave66
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 7:46 a.m.
Not to excuse Shaw in any way, but he does participate in an activity that rewards violence and aggression. This is how he's been conditioned since junior high, isn't it? I'm not surprised that he's incapable of turning it on and off like a switch. Sad and dismayed, but not surprised. I'm sure he's like that 24/7. Anyone who cares to dispute that is invited to look up the divorce and domestic violence statistics for football players and compare to the general population.
David Briegel
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 7:36 a.m.
hometown23, better watch it again my friend. You are wrong.
KeepingItReal
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 5:13 a.m.
Voiceofreason, thanks for providing that link. I reviewed it over and over and clearly Shaw went out of his way to bump into that OSU player. Homegrown23. I don't know what you were watching. But the M Player was way out of line. It doesn't matter if it's one of your bitter rivals. After all is said and done, the game is played on the field and OSU demonstrated. I'm a M man and I hope that RR saw this video and will use it as an instructive piece to show how not to act. I can see verbal jostling and such, but this behavior is way out of line.
voiceofreason
Wed, Dec 2, 2009 : 1:45 a.m.
Here is a link to the incident.....to me it certainly doesn't look like either player made much of an effort to avoid the hit. The reaction of the commentators made it worse than it needed to be. I will certainly give it a pass because it was against Ohio State. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix8LT6IrWIY&feature=player_embedded
himjo
Tue, Dec 1, 2009 : 11:01 p.m.
Hometown, you must have been smoking homegrown when you saw the tunnel incident because Shaw clearly went out of his way to elbow the guy coming up the tunnel. It was a cheap and unsportsmanlike act by a bum who played an awful game. He looked lost out there on the field.
hometown23
Tue, Dec 1, 2009 : 10:06 p.m.
@David...it amazes me that people see the same video and see things differently. I saw the tunnel bump many times on sports channels...the UM player (I believe it was Shaw) did not have his helmet on and the OSU player was an equal participant. I didn't see any taunting by either player...they both new what they were doing. It was simply a little gamesmanship...nothing more and nothing less.
David Briegel
Tue, Dec 1, 2009 : 9:22 p.m.
I also saw the classless act as a fully uniformed and helmeted U of M player bumped into a tee shirted buckeye and then turned and taunted the buckeye. I was very disappointed in that type of behavior. The tradition of that game has always been pretty classy, hard hitting, clean and fair competition. The finest in all of college sports!
Eric64
Tue, Dec 1, 2009 : 8:19 p.m.
Way to go U OF M.You should be proud of your school actions.
ferdcom
Tue, Dec 1, 2009 : 6:13 p.m.
What?????
KeepingItReal
Tue, Dec 1, 2009 : 6:12 p.m.
Did anyone notice that just before the M/OSU game, as one M player was coming through the tunnel, either an OSU player or student/fan was going in the opposite direction and the M player, with his uniform on, bumped into the OSU player or student/fan who did not have a uniform on. It was caught on camera because the camera crew did a replay of it and the announcers spoke about it. It's one thing to have a rivalry with a team but another to behave absolutely classless. I hope that RR caught this act and will use it to instruct his players on proper decorum, even with one of your stuanchest rivals.
loki
Tue, Dec 1, 2009 : 6:02 p.m.
no class. this is A2 not columbus