A UCSB Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) fraternity member is still in jail today, after turning himself in to the Isla Vista Foot Patrol (IVFP) on Sunday for a felony battery charge.
Michael Boyer, 21, was arrested after allegedly punching Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity member Joey Toney during a Kappa Alpha Theta sorority kickball game in Sea Lookout Park on Sunday afternoon. According to the IVFP report, Toney was taken by ambulance to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital emergency room following the incident and was released at 5 p.m. Boyer is still being held at the Santa Barbara County Jail on $30,000 bail.
According to the incident report, various members of PIKE and ATO had exchanged hostile remarks to each other throughout the game, and Boyer and Toney had reportedly been directly mocking each other all morning.
Toney, a third-year political science major, said he was talking with friends at the game when Boyer ran towards him and allegedly punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious and fracturing his cheekbone.
In the IVFP report, witness and Santa Barbara City College student Joshua Pemberton said Boyer was rounding the bases during the kickball game and began yelling at Toney as he approached third base. He said Boyer then ran straight towards Toney and punched him with his right fist, causing Toney to bleed from the left side of his face.
Third-year psychology major Oren Yomorta, who was at the game, said Toney was unconscious for 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes.
“It was one of the last games of the day,” Yomorta said. “[Boyer] was really heated up towards the end of the game. He ran towards third base and punched Joey.”
However, according to the IVFP report, Boyer said he punched Toney in self-defense. Boyer said Toney had taunted him several times during the game and said he retaliated by blowing Toney a kiss, after which Toney allegedly approached him angrily.
In the report, Boyer said he had not fought anyone since he was in the fifth grade and that he only punched Toney because Toney’s approach had scared him.
After he punched Toney, the report said, PIKE members instructed member Reid Van Buskirk to remove Boyer from the park. Van Buskirk took Boyer to the Goleta In-n-Out restaurant where Boyer called his parents and PIKE President James Anderson.
After conversing with IVFP Officer Seth Clark, the report said, Anderson directed Boyer to turn himself in to the IVFP. Van Buskirk then drove Boyer to the IVFP office where he turned himself in to Officer Zak Ayala.
UCSB Director of Greek Affairs Stephan Franklin said the Office of Greek Affairs and Associate Dean of Students Joseph Navarro will review the incident. Navarro and the Student-Faculty Committee on Student Conduct will decide Boyer’s student status, while the Office of Greek Affairs will investigate PIKE’s conduct. Franklin said the outcome of the cases will depend upon what evidence the two groups can find.
“Based on the facts, UCSB will decide how the cases will be heard,” Franklin said.