Last weekend was not a typical one for three University of Wisconsin seniors. Stacie Mosey, Heidi Ginter and Anna Zsabo witnessed a large group beating Sept. 17. The incident occurred directly in front of their 111 North Bassett Street residence.

According to Mosey, she and Ginter were unloading groceries from their car sometime around midnight. Fifteen minutes later, while watching Conan O’Brien’s TV show, Mosey, Ginter and Zsabo heard commotion outside their house.

The girls thought the noise outside might have been a small fight, but it wasn’t. Approximately eight males were kicking and punching another male on the sidewalk and front steps of their residence, the three witnesses said.

“It looked like a mob of guys beating up somebody,” Mosey said. “If I was a freshman and I saw this, I would have transferred, it was just that scary.”

Zsabo agreed.

“It was just so surreal; you don’t picture somebody getting their ass kicked on your front steps,” Zsabo said.

The victim’s head was up against the stairs while the group punched and kicked him, the witnesses said.

While another roommate called police, Mosey screamed at the group and said they were calling police, Zsabo said.

Instead of running away the group left the Bassett property to stand on the corner of Mifflin and Bassett and watched as the roommates attended to the injured victim, Zsabo added.

Once the attackers left their front porch, the girls were able to really see what had happened.

The victim was lying in their front bushes and bleeding from his head, according to the witnesses. The victim was short and approximately 100 pounds, they added.

“He was a tiny kid. He wasn’t going to fight back and even if he did, it was eight guys on one,” Mosey said. “He wasn’t going to be able to do anything.”

The victim was with five other people, two males and three females. All were freshmen, Zsabo said.

Mosey said the victim and his friends had come from a party on Mifflin Street. The attackers allegedly had been hanging around the party. When the victim and his friends left, a group followed them. Both Mosey and Zsabo could not give specifics as to what started the fight.

The three females originally with the victim ran and hid behind the parked cars in Mosey’s driveway during the fight. It took almost 10 minutes for a squad car to reach their house, according to Zsabo.

The squad car drove by slowly but did not stop until a witness of the attack started screaming as he chased the car down, Mosey noted.

When police came to the scene they were rude and unsympathetic, Mosey said.

Zsabo said her roommates and the group of people who witnessed the fight were upset over the incident and also with how the police responded.

Two officers then went after the group of suspects, according to Mosey. Paramedics arrived on the scene and took the victim and two of his friends to the hospital.

“[The officers] acted like this sort of thing happens all the time,” Mosey said. “They appeared nonchalant.”

Mosey, Ginter and Zsabo said they waited on their front porch to see if they could help police. However, no investigators approached them until late Wednesday night. Two detectives interviewed the girls and their roommates about the incident.

“There were a lot of witnesses, my neighbor saw it, I saw it, my roommates saw it, some girls across the street saw it and people walking across the street saw it,” Mosey said.

Both girls, although still upset over the events of Friday evening, were pleased two detectives came to talk to them Wednesday night.

“The detectives did not come to our residence because of the complaint,” Ginter said. “They were helpful and I’m glad that they came, but it doesn’t change what happened Friday night.”

But Ginter said she is still upset over how police handled the attack.

“No matter how busy that night was, those officers should have talked with us. It was ridiculous that they didn’t say anything,” Ginter added.

Zsabo questioned what would have happened if she and her roommates had not gotten involved in the situation.

“If we wouldn’t have called 911, what would have stopped [the attackers]? I don’t know,” Zsabo said.

When police left the scene they did not escort the three girl friends of the victim home. Mosey’s roommates talked to the girls and drove them home.

Zsabo and Mosey said they have filed an online complaint to the police department and they plan to contact city alders regarding the issue.

Ald. Austin King, District 8, said the incident is alarming.

“What’s most concerning about what happened is the apparent conduct of the police department,” King said.

King said the police department responds to the concerns of alders and their district constituents and this is something the city will look into.

“Hopefully we will be able to talk to PD about what’s going on,” King said.

Police were unavailable for comment at press time.

Zsabo stressed the place of attack was not a deserted area or a dark alley, but instead a busy street.

“I was on the street 20 minutes beforehand. There were lights on, people were around, cars were driving by,” Zsabo said. “This happened when people were going home and where people were walking around.”

Zsabo said the beating made her feel less safe because of how police handled the situation.

“These events don’t happen all the time,” Zsabo said. “This is a big deal.”

Both girls agreed walking in well-lit areas on busy streets did not stop Friday’s attack. Mosey and Zsabo said they have never seen this degree of criminal activity before and they questioned the possibility of gang violence. Both said they do not feel safe walking home anymore, even if others do.

Melanie Conklin, assistant to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said the police are concerned about the weekend’s assaults and robberies.

“The police are taking it very seriously. If there are witnesses, they definitely want to talk to them,” Conklin said. “This not the kind of atmosphere we want to have downtown.”

When students come back to campus there are bumps and activity, but the past weekend’s events were unusual, said Conklin.

“The mayor has been asking police to describe if [these incidents] are part of a pattern and what could be done to avoid a repeat of these incidents,” Conklin said.