SHELBY, NC (WNCN) – A UNC fan from Shelby said he is fortunate to be alive after he was assaulted by a group of Clemson fraternity members during the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte on Dec. 5.
Ryan Pruett, 33, who described himself as a die-hard University of North Carolina basketball fan, said he did not have tickets to the game but had a last-minute opportunity to tailgate.
Pruett said he was with friends in a parking lot using two permits. Pruett described the scene as a normal tailgate with kids throwing a football around the lot.
Around noon, three chartered buses pulled into the lot, he said. He said members of a specific Clemson fraternity were on the bus.
The fraternity brothers told him and other tailgaters around him to tell him if they got out of hand or if their music got too loud.
“It was unreal how many cases of beer the kids were carrying out of the buses,” Pruett said. Between 4 and 5 p.m., Pruett said situation got out of control.
The Clemson students stole food from other tailgaters and even stole his friend’s generator.
One frat member attempted to steal a liquor bottle from a neighboring tailgate, Pruett said. The man dropped the bottle when a woman caught him, causing it to shatter.
During that same time, three men and a woman were near Pruett’s vehicle when they tore off his UNC flag. Pruett said he exited his vehicle and confronted them.
Pruett said they apologized and blamed their actions on alcohol.
“I don’t know why someone would disrespect someone else’s property,” Pruett said.
Between 15 and 30 minutes later, Pruett said he and his friend were listening to the game in his vehicle. He said members of the fraternity tailgate opened the back hatch of his vehicle and started pouring beer in his car.
Pruett said he and his friend got out of their car and were met with 15 guys.
The next thing Pruett remembers is waking up in the hospital.
Pruett suffered a broken nose and his eye socket was broken. His friend was also injured when a beer bottle was shattered over his head. Pruett’s friend required stitches.
“I don’t remember talking to the police or getting in the ambulance,” Pruett said.
Pruett’s mother had contacted Clemson University and he said she has a meeting with the university president and head of Greek life at the school.
He said all he wants is to feel better. He admitted he had been drinking during the tailgate but had stopped two to three hours before the assault.
“I could have been dead,” he said.
Pruett said he had three children and they could have had a single mom if the assault had gone differently.
“Now I wish I had never went to the game,” he said.
North Carolina lost to Clemson 45-37.
Clemson spokeswoman Cathy Sams told Fox Carolina:
“University police and administrators are investing allegations that Clemson students were involved in a disturbance in Charlotte while tailgating at the ACC Championship Game, and we have been told that at least one person was injured and property damaged. These allegations, if true, do not reflect the values and character of Clemson University or the majority of our students, and could lead to serious sanctions and possible criminal charges.”
