Police have identified Christopher Navarrette and Jesse Watson as the two men involved in the assault of three Lehigh University students Sunday morning, according to court documents.
Navarrette, who is 30 years old, has been apprehended and incarcerated in Northampton County prison under $100,000 bail. Police have yet to apprehend Watson. Both men were seen on surveillance video wearing orange t-shirts.
The three students who were sent to the hospital as a result of the altercation are Max Mastbaum, ’18, Riley Amelio, ’18, and Quinn Boothe, ’18. Boothe was found unconscious and all three were brought to St. Luke’s University Hospital for their injuries.
A Lehigh student who witnessed the incident said he saw the two males exit their car and assault the students. According to the student, one of the men said, “You talk smack, you get hit.” One of the men pushed Boothe into the car and punched him in the face. The other man punched Mastbaum and Amelio, court papers said.
Navarrette “admitted ‘punching’ a tall white male involved with the incident in the face,” according to court records. He said his friend Watson “knocked out the black male.”
Navarrette was found by police on the evening of Aug. 30 at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Bethlehem, when a vehicle matching one described from the assault was seen in the parking lot.
He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault and two counts of harassment. He is due in court for a hearing at 9 a.m. on Sept. 14.
Comment Policy
Comments posted to The Brown and White website are reviewed by a moderator before being approved. Incendiary speech or harassing language, including comments targeted at individuals, may be deemed unacceptable and not published. Spam and other soliciting will also be declined.
The Brown and White also reserves the right to refuse the publication of entirely anonymous comments.