The is investigating a Tuesday evening incident in which a 21-year-old man said he was attacked by a group of men in a downtown parking lot.
Deputy Chief Peter Reichard said Matthew Gillespie, of Orange, suffered minor injuries to the face and ear. He was treated at the scene by personnel and taken to .
Gillespie said he was leaving a "welcome back" party for local colleges at a Bank Street establishment when he was approached by a group of 10 or more men. He said one of the men punched him in the face and the others began kicking him after he fell to the ground.
Officers responded to numerous 911 calls of an assault taking place in the municipal parking lots near the intersection of Golden Street and Eugene O'Neill Drive. The group fled on foot after hearing the approaching sirens.
"There were no overt signs of gang activity involved in this incident," said Reichard. "No descriptions of the group are available at this time."
The party was not an officially sanctioned event put on by the colleges. A spokesperson at said it did not host a "welcome back" party downtown on Tuesday.
Anyone with information on the incident should call the NLPD Detective Division at 860-442-1481. These calls are kept confidential.
