The Pendulum
NEWS
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 / Page 3
Students raise money to help missing 2006 alum
FLEISCHMANN from page 1
painful because there's still no
closure for him," Fleischmann
said. “1 believe he was killed.
There's no doubt in my mind.”
While Stimmel hopes there
is some type of resolution
before another year passes, he
said the group will continue
to sponsor events in his honor
annually if no conclusion is
reached.
“He's a brother of ours
and we know that he’d do the
same thing for us, if any one
of us were in this situation,”
he said.
“The fact that both alumni,
who knew him a little better
than the people at school,
care so much about his cause
and that we’re continuing our
efforts speaks to the strength
of the brotherhood we have.”
Stimmel said many
alumni and members
from the foundation were
thankful they were able to
continue to spread the word
about Fleischmann and
other missing young adults
situations,
“He’d be doing as much
as he can if it was any one
of us. That's something
we're pretty proud of. We've
come together, even though
there's no resolution, and can
still demonstrate strength
by coming together and
supporting his cause.”
There is a 550,000 private
reward for anyone with
information leading to the
resolution of Kyle's case and
his whereabouts.
Anyone with any
information on Kyle’s
disappearance is asked to
contact Crime Stoppers at
(704) 334-1600.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Brothers of Kappa Alpha Order gathered Saturday morning to honor of their missing brother, Kyle Fleischmann.
Kyle’s story and the Kyle Fleischmann Foundation
Kyle
Fleischmann
Kyle Fleischmann, then 24, was last
seen leaving Buckhead Saloon in Charlotte
around 2:20 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2007. Shortly
after that, he was identified as buying pizza
at Fuel Pizza In uptown Charlotte around
2:25 a.m.
He has not been heard from since.
Fleischmann graduated from Elon with a
business administration degree in 2006. He
volunteered with the Special Olympics, the
Boys and Girls Club and was an officer of
the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity.
Established in November 2007, The Kyle
Fleischmann Foundation works to spread
public awareness and educate others about
missing persons and support families
missing loved ones.
They focus on education and prevention
and train speakers, including Fleischmann's
father, to travel and talk about their
experiences and offer tips on how to stay
safe.
The Foundation marked the one-year
anniversary of Fleischmann's disappearance
with a charity golf tournament and banquet
in Charlotte to raise money and awareness.
On Dec. 13, members of the Kyle
Fleischmann Foundation will race the
Thunder Road Marathon Relay in Charlotte
to raise awareness as well.
To lean more or donate, visit: www.
thekff.org.
Student struggles with attacker in London flats
Police capture suspect within four hours of incident, possible link to other crime in area
Ashley Barnas
Reporter
LONDON — In the early hours of
Friday, Nov. 7, an Elon student's phone
call to his brother turned sour when
he was attacked during an attempted
robbery on the front stoop of the
university flats in London.
The student was relatively
unharmed and a suspect has since
been taken into custody and is now
being linked with numerous other
robberies in the neighborhood.
Between 4:10 and 4:25 a.m., the
student, a male junior who has chosen
to withhold his identity for security
purposes, stepped outside the Elon flat
in London to make a 10-minute phone
call.
He then saw two men on bikes
about 100 meters away. The men were
weaving back and forth and seemed
suspicious, so the Elon student turned
around and walked back to the flat’s
front door.
The student saw the men speed up,
but said he remembers focusing on
the guy in the front, who dropped his
bike as the student dug into his front
pocket to grab his keys to get in the
front door.
The attacker jumped on the
student's back as the student pounded
through the door. The student's
body slammed to the ground and the
attacker screamed for the student to
pass over his phone. The cell phone
was underneath the student and the
attacker grabbed it and put it in his
pocket as the student held the attacker
back two feet from his face.
“I just made a lot of noise and the
guy tried to hush me, but there was no
way that was happening,” the student
said.
The attacker chased him to the
stairwell and grabbed his leg but
failed to drag the student down. As the
attacker ran off, the student sprinted
up to the first floor and began banging
on doors.
“It was probably one of the most
surreal experiences of my life,” he
said. “I feel like it was all acting, just
instinctive survival.”
He came away from the experience
with only a scratch on his eyebrow and
the battery cover of his cell phone —
the attacker got away with the rest of
his phone.
He was let into the flat of Elon girls,
where he was able to use one of their
cell phones to call 9-9-9, the British
equivalent of 911. He joined the police
for a 25-minute drive around the area,
but could not find the attacker.
He returned to the flat around 5:30
a.m. and was informed three to four
hours later that the police found the
attacker. By noon, he was called into
the Charing Cross police station.
“The fact that they found the guy
was really impressive,” he said. “And
the fact that they found him within
four hours of me reporting it."
The police were able to reach him
through the phone they confiscated
from the attacker. When the student
walked into the station holding the
back of his phone, it was a Cinderella
slipper moment. The battery cover fit
perfectly to the body of the phone now
held by police.
On Saturday, the student, along
with six other witnesses from other
incidents, went to the Victoria police
station to identify the attacker from
nine men shown on a screen.
The Elon student said he looked the
attacker in the eyes twice during the
morning of the incident and was able
to give the police details without being
prompted for them. The student could
tell details down to what embroidery
was on his attacker's shirt. Somehow,
the student said he subconsciously
knew how to act in the situation.
“I'm just glad it wasn't one of the
girls or anything on this trip because
all of the girls were like, ‘How did you
not shake when you were trying to get
the door open?’” he said. “My main
priority was just — I need to get this
door open.”
The suspect will be held for seven
months without bail until his court
case.
It is likely that the student will
get an all-expenses-paid trip back
to London with one other person in
late May or early June to testify as a
witness in the trial because he got the
best look at the attacker.
Junior Jenny Cupero, who heard
parts of the encounter from her
apartment on the basement level,
said that though the incident was
unfortunate, she isn’t more concerned
about her safety than she was before.
“I have been taking extra
precautions from the beginning
and that has not changed,” Cupero
said. “1 believe that as long as we do
everything we can to practice caution
at night we will be safe.”
The victim’s scab is disappearing
and he is now recovering from the
draining experience of filing police
reports. He has been able to get a
little more rest and talk through the
experience with people. All the Elon
students on the trip are gathering for a
mandatory safety meeting tonight.
Science Matters
Anatomy of fighting back
People learning self-defense are taught that if they cannot run aivay
immediately, to strike their attacker at these vulnerable points,
giving them enough time to escape.
Nose cartilage
Throat and windpipe
Strike fist downward
onto attacker's nose
Drive heel of hand into nose;
warning ~ this injury can kill
Strike witl^umb and
fingers^d In a “V”
Squeeze
windpipe ^
to block
attacker’s
breath
Knee and shin
Shift weight to your rear
foot and kick attacker's
knee; bring leg back
quickly and be ready
to kick again
Rake side of your shoe
along attacker’s shin...
... then drive heel
Into top of his foot
Grab attacker’s head;
rake thumbs across eyes
Knee, punch or kick
testicles to cause
intense pain
Strike from below,
H possible, to make
blow harder to block
Source; ‘“Self-d«»«ise: Stsps to Burvival" by Katy Mattingly,
“S»« Defense for Women: mow to stay safe and fight tjack*
tsy Susan t. Iverson, *f ^tJng Bade Every woman’s guide
lo surwar by Helene Crane
Gra(M>tc: Lindsay Dubois, Sun Sentinel ^ 2006 ft
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