6 VSU students, 2 others, charged in fraternity hazing that injured student

Six students at Virginia State University and two other men have been charged in a fraternity hazing incident in February that left a VSU student hospitalized with extreme bruising.

Matthew E. Brown, 20; Christopher D. Cannaday, 21; Wayne L. Bowser Jr. 21; Issac A. Montgomery, 26; Jaramis R. Whitaker, 24; and Maurice L. Brown, 30, were charged with one count each of hazing, a misdemeanor. All six were identified as VSU students and either members of, or inductees to, the VSU chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, the fraternity that has been suspended as a result of the hazing.

Richard E. Roman, 27, and Maurice C. Hutton, also 27, were charged with one count each of malicious wounding, a felony. Roman and Hutton are not students.

The arrests are the result of a VSU police investigation into the February hazing incident. The victim, identified only as a junior from Chesapeake, suffered extreme bruising that led to additional medical complications, said VSU spokeswoman Osita Iroegbu.

"The injuries the student sustained were serious enough to require him to be referred by the University Health Center to Southside Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery," Iroegbu said.

The hazing incident occurred off-campus in Petersburg, where each of the men have been charged. Further details were not immediately available.

"This type of behavior is unacceptable at VSU and those who involve themselves in such appalling behavior will be subjected to the full extent of the judicial process," Iroegbu said. "The university is working closely with the Petersburg authorities on this investigation."

-- Mark Bowes