Police: Bar staff identified men involved in Five Points assault as USC players

The men accused in a weekend assault at a Five Points bar were identified as USC football players by staff members at the business, according to police officials.

A 24-year-old man reported that he was assaulted by three men inside the Five Points Saloon early Saturday after confronting them about them knocking his phone out of his hand. A complaint filed with the Columbia Police Department lists the three men as Deebo Samuel, Skai Moore and Jalen Dread. Samuel and Moore are football players for USC, and Dread is a former player with the team.

No charges have been filed in the case, and USC coach Will Muschamp said Samuel was not present at the bar.

The police report provided by the department says the men “were identified by the fact that they were each USC football players.”

“The information came from business staff,” Jennifer Timmons, a Columbia police spokeswoman, said Wednesday. “CPD continues to investigate to corroborate or dispel the initial reported information.”

Attempts to reach a proprietor at Five Points Saloon have been unsuccessful. The business said on its Twitter account Tuesday that it had no comment on the incident.

Timmons said Wednesday afternoon that the players had not yet been interviewed by investigators but did not elaborate.

The department also confirmed it has obtained video footage related to the alleged incident, with Timmons saying only that the footage captures “a large crowd.” Additional details about the contents of the footage were not available. The State newspaper has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the footage.

Columbia officers responded just before 3 a.m. Saturday to an assault inside the bar, at 812 Harden St., according to the police report. The victim told officers he confronted three men after they knocked his phone out of his hand.

The three “became agitated, refuting the accusation,” police said. Within seconds, the situation “escalated to the subjects physically assaulting him,” the report states.

Bar staff pulled the men off the victim and escorted them out of the business, police said. The victim had “very visible swelling” around his left eye but refused medical treatment.

Muschamp has disputed Samuel’s presence at the bar when the incident happened, saying Tuesday, “I have talked to Deebo Samuel, and he was not at the establishment, so there’s an incorrect report and that’s some irresponsible journalism, in my opinion, but it is what it is.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Police: Bar staff identified men involved in Five Points assault as USC players."