The trouble began with a lit cigar at a popular University of Virginia-adjacent watering hole. It ended with an arrest.
The early November incident also left the manager of Trinity on the Corner with bloody spittle on his face and the accused spitter, third-year student Alexander Scott Hogge, facing four criminal charges including assault.
“He committed an assault directly in front of me,” arresting officer Susan Del Prete wrote in her report. “I could not let such a thing occur, particularly given that there was blood in his spit which could be considered to be a biohazard.”
According to Del Prete, the disorder started around 1:19 a.m. on Nov. 3, when a Trinity bouncer ejected Hogge for smoking a cigar inside the pub in violation of state law. The ejection process left Hogge bloody, and he allegedly returned 10 minutes later so upset that he expressed a desire to press charges. Trinity manager Jonathan Genda, however, did not encourage that.
“He told Mr. Hogge he could press charges,” wrote Del Prete, “but the camera footage would show that he had thrown the first punch.”
It was then, the officer alleges, that Hogge launched the blood-soaked spittle that would launch the assault charge.
“Mr. Hogge was approx. 6 to 8 inches away from Mr. Genda’s face when he spat,” wrote Del Prete. “Mr. Hogge’s mouth was bleeding when this occurred, and it was alarming.”
The officer was so alarmed that she followed Hogge away from the University Avenue bar and told him to stop. What followed was a chase with allegations of clumsy footwork, a frantic toss of personal effects and behaviors that the officer characterized as drunken.
“I put my hands on Mr. Hogge’s right arm, but he resisted and ran,” she wrote.
After Hogge fled toward the heart of UVa’s Academical Village on Hospital Drive, Del Prete got in her patrol vehicle to give chase and found Hogge in front of McKim Hall, the administrative home of UVa’s School of Medicine. She said she told Hogge to stay put.
“He initially complied but got up and began to flee down a set of steps,” she wrote. “I pursued Mr. Hogge and watched as he slipped on the stairs.”
As Del Prete drove toward a nearby loading dock, she was joined by another officer who began to chase Hogge, now on a walkway with metal railings and no way out, on foot.
“Mr. Hogge stopped, threw all his personal items away from himself as we approached, and he was immediately placed in handcuffs.”
She said that Hogge seemed unable to provide his birthdate or address when asked and noted that he claimed not to be in possession of any identification.
“I asked how he was able to get into a bar without an ID,” she wrote, “and he stated that he had not been in a bar.”
Del Prete said she and the other officer began scooping up the young man’s belongings.
“Mr. Hogge’s wallet was found near the south entrance to the West Complex,” the officer wrote. “His VA driver’s license was found in a crosswalk on Jefferson Park Avenue.”
The officer said she then found something else.
“Mr. Hogge had a license from Connecticut in his wallet,” she wrote. “The ID did not belong to him and was determined to be fraudulent.”
Ironically, Hogge wouldn’t have needed a fake ID to buy alcohol on the morning in question, as he turned 21 about 90 minutes before the spitting incident, according to court records.
In addition to the assault and battery charge, the officer swore out warrants charging resisting arrest, possessing a false identification and public drunkenness.
Court records indicate that Hogge has hired Jessica Phillips as his attorney. Phillips did not return a telephone call from The Daily Progress.
Hogge received bail on the four charges, each of which is a misdemeanor, and a trial has been set for Feb. 3 in Charlottesville General District Court.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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