Witnesses testify in trial against CMU student-athlete Malik Fountain
From Paulette Bonamego to a Wayside Central bouncer, 10 witnesses testified Tuesday in the trial against a Central Michigan University football player — many with varying accounts of what happened on Dec. 2.
Sophomore linebacker Malik Fountain, of Chicago, was arrested April 7 for allegedly assaulting Saginaw residents Chylcie Lett and Mackenzie Maul at 1:17 a.m. Dec. 2 near the disc jockey table at Wayside Central in Mount Pleasant. Fountain was charged with one count of aggravated assault, two counts of assault and battery and one count of jostling.
Bonamego, Fountain's roommate, law enforcement and Wayside Central staff all testified. Bonamego offered testimony as a character witness on Fountain's behalf, saying Fountain was voted by his peers as one of the football team's leaders.
She also told Central Michigan Life she and her husband, Football Coach John Bonamego, picked Fountain up from jail that night. His bail was paid by his family.
Lett, whose Facebook post about the incident was shared more than 2,000 times, testified first Tuesday in Isabella County Trial Court.
Fountain's defense attorney Joe Barberi asked Lett about her Facebook post, which was originally posted at 3:41 p.m. on Dec. 2, but edited at 5:19 p.m.
The edits, which Lett said she does not know by whom or how they were made, omitted the name of Feras Alanki, or "Slick" as he is referred to by nickname.
Alanki, a former Saginaw Valley State University student and citizen of Saudi Arabia, began dating Lett's friend, former roommate and second complainant Mackenzie Maul in November 2015.
Police have been investigating Alanki since September 2015 for distribution of cocaine and marijuana. Maul, 19, was also on probation on Dec. 2 for a minor in possession and disorderly conduct citation in November.
In the affidavit from Officer Dale Hawks of the MPPD, Lett, who met Alanki briefly on Halloween 2015, stated an "unknown Arab male then got an altercation with the black male subject." Similarly, Maul stated after a black male pushed her forehead "then got into an altercation with an Arab male."
Hawks speculated the two were withholding Alanki's identity.
Maul, who said she did not consider she could be charged with parole violation for admitting she had "one or two beers" on the night in question, said she did not give police Alanki's name or address because she did not want him to get in trouble.
Both Isabella County Assistant Prosecutor Lawrence King and Barberi presented surveillance footage from within Wayside Central. The footage does not conclusively show who initiated the fight, but shows aggressive movement in a crowd of people moving from the disc jockey booth towards the building's east wall.
Wayside bouncer Shane Taylor can be seen, as Taylor pointed out in his testimony, carrying Alanki out of the scuffle and out the building's north entrance. Maul and Lett can be seen moving through the crowd hand-in-hand, following Taylor and Alanki out the door.
Taylor, who was posted inside a dancing cage near the disc jockey booth when the fight broke out, said he witnessed Alanki as the aggressor. Camera six shows an altercation between Alanki and Taylor outside of the bar. As Lett and Maul escorted a visually aggravated Alanki away from the bar, Alanki turned back and allegedly threatened Taylor. Taylor then lunged at Alanki, wrestling him off camera and onto the ground.
Alanki told King on Tuesday he was "tipsy" that night, but previously told MPPD Det. Dave Sabuda and Barberi he did not remember anything because he was drunk.
Lett said in her Facebook post police would not talk to her or Maul about the incident at the time, but according to MPPD Officer Mike Thompson's testimony, Thompson coincidentally ran into the two at the Shell Gas Station kitty-corner from Wayside Central on the northeast corner of Broomfield and Mission streets.
Thompson said he was getting a drink at the gas station when the pair approached him inside the store. Maul said the two went to the gas station to clean the blood from their faces after being struck. Thompson said he asked the women to come outside of the business to give a statement for a police report. When he went to his patrol car for a pen and notepad, Thompson said the pair walked back to Wayside Central without giving a statement.
How the altercation started and who actually hit Lett and Maul is still unclear.
Former CMU football player Courtney Williams, of Melvindale, said he stepped between Fountain and two women who were yelling at him on the dance floor. Williams said he threw the first two punches at Alanki after Alanki threw his beer onto Williams and Fountain. Williams said Fountain also threw punches at Alanki.
Alanki testified he "stood up for (Maul)."
Barberi argued no testimony showed any evidence that Maul was assaulted. A motion by Barberi to throwout the assault and battery charge was denied by Judge Eric Janes.
Hawks said Fountain was helpful and forthright during the investigation. He said Williams wasn't as upfront and harder to track down to be interviewed.
The trial is expected to conclude Wednesday at noon.
