Third arrest made in Frat Row stabbings
By Dan O'Brien, Collegian Staff
October 27, 2005
A third person has been arrested in connection with six stabbings that took place on the "Frat Row" section of North Pleasant St.
Cuong Ly, 18, of 277 Riverglade Drive, Apartment 8 in Amherst was arrested at his home at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (a metal pole) and two counts of assault and battery, police said.
As of press time, police would not disclose what exact role Ly had in the melee of assaults that occurred outside Pi Delta Psi fraternity, 389 North Pleasant St., in the early morning hours of Sunday, Oct. 2.
Amherst police responded to a report of a large fight outside Pi Delta Psi at 12:33 a.m. on Oct. 2 to find two men stabbed. Chris Canton, 21, the president of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, was found stabbed in the head. Joseph Gratton, 21, a member of Zeta Beta Tau, was found stabbed in the bicep.
About 45 minutes later, police responded again to the area of Pi Delta Psi on another report of a large fight to find three additional men stabbed. Stephen Fiore, 20, of Somerville was found stabbed several times in the back; Alp Akiner, 18, of Woodcliff N.J. was found stabbed in the side; Sean Fitzgibbons of North Attleboro was found stabbed in the forearm. Since the incident, Fitzgibbons told the Daily Collegian that he was not actually stabbed. However, police have refused comment regarding Fitzgibbons.
At 2:25 a.m., police were called to 17 Southpoint Drive on a report of a man who had been stabbed. Police found Thi Ly, 23, of 266 East Hadley Rd. stabbed in the hand. Police said he received the stab wound from the earlier fights on Frat Row.
Cuong Ly, the suspect arrested Tuesday, is the brother of Thi Ly, the stabbing victim.
Police arrested a 15-year-old male from Amherst on Oct. 12 and a 16-year-old male from Sunderland on Oct. 13 in connection with the stabbings. Both males were charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (shod foot). The males were believed to be involved in assaulting some of the stabbing victims, but police have not said whether they are accused of stabbing anyone.
Cuong Ly and the two juveniles were all students of Amherst Regional High School's alternative Annex.
Ly pleaded innocent Tuesday during his arraignment at Eastern Hampshire District Court in Hadley. Judge Nancy Dusek-Gomez reportedly set bail at $1,000 and continued the case to Wednesday, Nov. 2.
Both fraternities involved in the stabbings, Zeta Beta Tau and Pi Delta Psi, have received temporary suspensions from the University of Massachusetts.
"It's good to see that the process is moving along," Joseph Gratton, a stabbing victim and Zeta Beta Tau member said of the arrests.
"We have no affiliation with any persons who have been arrested in the case, so therefore will not comment on it," said Pi Delta Psi president Long Tran in an e-mail. "We will be ready to defend ourselves and prove to administration that there is no reason for our suspension."
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Copyright Daniel O�Brien and the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. This article may not be redistributed without written permission under United States law.