After an incident in which he allegedly assaulted a fellow Iowa State student on Saturday, Sept. 13, Luis Blanco turned himself in to the Department of Public Safety Thursday.

Assistant Director of DPS Jerry Stewart said DPS officers received a report at 6:19 p.m. on Sept. 13 about an altercation on the seventh floor of Knapp Hall.

When Lt. Scott Newman and Patrol Officer Angela Hart arrived at the scene, they found Blanco, a sophomore in sociology, and John McMartin, a sophomore in liberal arts and sciences, fighting in the hallway.

McMartin said when he and a few friends got into the elevator on the ground floor of Knapp, Blanco and two others were already inside. DPS would not release the names of the two men with Blanco, but McMartin said one of the men lives on the 10th floor of Knapp Hall.

“When we got in the elevator, it smelled of alcohol. [Blanco] was making fun of my friends, but we didn’t care, because who gives a shit about drunk people talking?” McMartin said.

McMartin said he had bought groceries at Cub Foods and his friend was carrying the bag. According to McMartin, Blanco took a 2-liter bottle of pop from the bag.

McMartin said he objected quietly. “I said, ‘That’s mine. Can I have it back please?’ Then, when I put my hand on [the bottle], he hit me.”

Meanwhile, the elevator was moving slowly up toward the seventh floor, where McMartin lives. “It’s kind of foggy from there, because I got a couple blows to the head and my memory isn’t good,” he said.

At the seventh floor, the door opened and Blanco continued to struggle with his attackers.

“While I was wrestling with one of them, I was yelling, ‘Call the police!'”

McMartin said he found out later the DPS switchboard was flooded by at least a dozen calls from onlookers at the scene.

After a short time, the three assailants fled. McMartin said they were “staggering a little” and had some trouble finding the exit door.

“They tried to go into one of the fake (no handles) storage doors. Then they tried the real storage door, and then they found the stairwell. When they fled down the stairs, I pursued them, and I fell unconscious on the stairs,” McMartin said.

No one involved in the incident was injured seriously enough to require immediate medical attention, but McMartin said he received a suspected light concussion and a few other minor injuries. “The first blow left a scrape across my cheek and I had a couple bumps on my head,” he said.

Stewart said a simple misdemeanor assault warrant was issued for Blanco and the information gathered so far has been referred to the Story County attorney’s office for review.

He also said charges against the other assailants may be filed pending further investigation of the case.

McMartin said he had a complaint filed against him by Blanco and the two other men, but DPS dropped the matter when their stories did not coincide.

Blanco allegedly offered an apology in exchange for the assault charge being dropped, but McMartin said he refused.

Director of Athletic Media Relations Tom Kroeschell gave the Daily a statement from wrestling coach Bobby Douglas saying, “I have suspended Luis from the wrestling team. Any further action will be taken pending the legal resolution of this matter.”

Kroeschell said the statement was the “only comment that the department, Coach Douglas or Luis will have.”