By Joshua Johnson and Kaleb Turner
At 11:26 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, an altercation took place outside the interior entrance to the Charles White Dining Hall between Joaquin Collins and a student, according to the Searcy Police Department. Collins was arrested on the charge of aggravated assault and is being held at the White County Law Enforcement Detention Center on a $5,000 bond, according to Officer Terri Lee. The Department of Public Safety is not releasing the victim’s identity at this time.
According to sophomore eyewitness Lydia Martin, the disturbance was loud enough to be heard by people sitting inside the cafeteria. Martin said she was on her way out of the cafeteria when she heard a sound like a man falling heavily to the ground, and when she arrived on the scene, a man was lying on the ground in a fetal position and was being kicked by Collins.
“I don’t want to say that anyone was innocent here, I’m sure something started between them, but a knife was pulled out and that’s when I started backing away,” Martin said.
Senior Daylan Skidmore said he initially thought the yelling outside the cafeteria was nothing to be concerned about.
“I kept looking and tried to make sure it wasn’t an actual fight, but then I heard (someone) say, ‘Help,'” Skidmore said. “So I just dropped my ID card, and I took off running toward (the scene).”
Skidmore said that when he arrived on the scene, Collins was on top of the victim. Skidmore proceeded to pull Collins away and hold him back.
“(Collins) kicked (the victim) as I was pulling him away,” Skidmore said. “I was just trying to figure out what was going on at that point. I was trying to cool him down and keep him from attacking him again.”
Initial eyewitness accounts stated that a knife was lying open on the ground during the fight, and in a statement released at 2:25 p.m., Craig Russell, director of Public Safety, confirmed that a knife was found on the scene, but no one involved sustained knife-related injuries.
Skidmore said he spoke briefly to Collins while he was restraining him.
“(Collins) said that (the victim) pushed him, at some point,” Skidmore said. “I don’t know if that was a physical push or a kind of ‘pushed him to the limit’ thing. Clearly it was pretty emotionally charged, and not much thinking involved.”
According to Martin, the victim called 911 after Skidmore and Aramark employee Norma Hilliard separated the two men.
“He was very discombobulated when he was on the phone with the police,” Martin said. “He just kept saying ‘I’m at Harding University’ over and over again, and then he fell down and was breathing really hard.”
Martin said Hilliard tried to diffuse the situation and told Collins to put the knife away.
According to Jana Rucker, vice president for University Communications and Marketing, the student received minor injuries in the altercation. Martin said the victim’s shirt had been torn open, and his chest and head were marked with red areas where he had been hit. The circumstances regarding the attacker’s motives are still under investigation.
Rucker said that if anyone has additional information related to this incident to please contact the Department of Public Safety.
[Editor’s Note: Part of the eyewitness account was edited from the story after public safety video footage revealed that comments were incorrect.]
