The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and the Moscow Police Department announced Thursday, Feb. 12, that no criminal charges would be filed regarding the fight on Greek Row last fall.
Late Wednesday, Sept. 24, a fight broke out between 26-year-old DoorDash driver Austen Dawson and a University of Idaho student on Greek Row, which ended with Dawson being Life-Flighted to a Lewiston hospital and put into a medically induced coma. Dawson woke up from the coma on Sept. 30, according to his father, Adam Dawson.
MPD concluded its investigation on Wednesday, Oct. 8, after which the case was passed onto the prosecutor’s office.
The joint statement issued by the two organizations identified the fraternity member as 21-year-old Arath Chavez. According to the statement, Dawson was 6’ tall and Chavez was 5’5”, with both men weighing approximately the same.
MPD determined that the two had engaged in mutual combat, therefore making the charges for aggravated battery – which requires both the unlawful touching or use of force on another person and for the victim to have suffered “great bodily injury” – unsustainable.
In reviewing the case, MPD collected witness statements, video and audio recordings and medical records, interviewing Dawson and Chavez, other witnesses and medical professionals.
According to the report, on Sept. 24, Chavez and three friends were playing basketball at Phi Delta Theta when the ball went into the road, hitting the car Dawson was driving. Chavez told police Dawson asked him if the ball had caused any damage to the car, to which Chavez said “no.” MPD was unable to find any damage to the car afterward.
Another witness reported that Dawson challenged Chavez to a fight, which Chavez refused. Dawson then drove to the corner of Idaho Avenue and Elm Street, parked and delivered his DoorDash order to a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority member. The sorority member told police that Dawson said the basketball had dented his car and that he was “going to fight the guy for it,” according to the statement.
As Dawson walked away from the sorority, he began yelling at Chavez, saying, “let’s fight.” Chavez responded that he didn’t want to. The sorority member then began to record on her phone.
As Dawson and Chavez argued, Dawson reportedly told Chavez multiple times to “swing,” another witness said. The witness tried to deescalate, asking Dawson to leave.
Chavez told Dawson multiple times that he did not want to fight. Two other witnesses told police Chavez was clearly not wanting to fight, but Dawson kept insisting. Chavez eventually agreed to fight, provided they moved off fraternity property. The two then walked to the middle of the street, shook hands and began to fight.
According to multiple witnesses, Dawson swung first. As the two exchanged blows, Chavez wrapped his arms around Dawson’s torso and tackled him to the ground, where Dawson’s head hit the pavement. On the ground, Chavez continued hitting Dawson for a few seconds. The witnesses could not tell if Dawson was unconscious at that point as Chavez was on top of him. Then, two witnesses reported, someone told Chavez to stop and he immediately stood up and walked away.
Dawson then tried to lift himself off the ground before falling back and beginning to have a seizure. Witnesses then called 911.
According to the footage obtained by MPD, the fight only lasted for 15-20 seconds.
Multiple witnesses interviewed by police reiterated that Dawson was the main aggressor and threw the first punch, with both agreeing to the fight beforehand.
Medical professionals consulted by MPD determined that the worst of Dawson’s injuries came from hitting the pavement rather than punches thrown while he was on the ground.
Both the national and UI Phi Delta Theta organizations announced Chavez’s membership had been revoked due to the incident on Sept. 26.
As of Feb. 12, UI’s only statement on the fight was a Sept. 25 Facebook comment.
All of The Argonaut’s coverage on this topic can be found here.
Dakota Steffen can be reached at [email protected].