Shortly after five in the early morning hours of October 10, a WMPG disc jockey was beaten in the station’s Falmouth Street studios by an assailant he had mistook for a colleague. The incident has renewed concerns regarding the safety of the Portland Campus, which has generally little activity or security after the final classes end each night.
The assault occurred when the disc jockey responded to the blinking light in the studio that indicates that the doorbell is ringing. After looking through the peephole and seeing what appeared to be the back of another disc jockey, he unlocked and opened the door and was immediately knocked to the floor. He was beaten in the head with closed fists for approximately one minute with his head repeatedly bounced off the floor.
The University Police Department would not provide any details, saying that the investigation was ongoing.
However, WMPG station manager Jim Rand said that the assailant allegedly became upset while listening to the station. “The disc jockey had played a song by the British group “Belle and Sebastian” and then made mention of the band’s name. [The assailant] apparently took issue with the mention of the name “Sebastian.” Rand said. He could not provide any insight as to why this may have upset him to the point where he would come to the station and attack the disc jockey.
USM police department Detective Penny Belanger said that police do have a suspect in the case. “We do have someone that we’re looking at but because this is an open investigation we are reluctant to give out any information at this time.” Belanger declined to comment on whether or not the person of interest was a USM student or what legal options the victim may be pursuing.
Security on the Portland campus is thin after 11 p.m. There is one officer on duty at the Portland Hall dorm on Congress Street who periodically makes a trip to campus to check locked doors and to look for any signs of a disturbance. Even though activity on the Portland campus is minimal, there is still a small presence. WMPG is a round-the-clock operation and the offices of The Free Press are often open late. Custodial personnel are also present in campus buildings.
“My best advice is to look take extra precautions when you are on campus at night. Make sure you’re not propping doors open and that you only open a door once you have positively identified who is on the other side.” Belanger said.
According to Rand, the station is taking steps to ensure an incident such as this does not happen again. “We’ve installed a camera at the door, this way, those inside can identify whoever is on the other side.”
This is not the first violent incident at WMPG in the past year. Last fall a Molotov cocktail was thrown through an open studio window. That incident went unsolved.