Nicholas Lorusso, a former LSU student and fraternity brother, pled not guilty on Monday to simple battery during an August 2017 fraternity event according to the Advocate.
Lorusso also pled not guilty to marijuana possession from a January 2017 incident.
Lorusso was booked on a second-degree battery charge, a felony, after being accused of pushing a student down two flights of stairs on Aug. 17, 2017. The East Baton Rouge Police Parish district attorney charged him with simple battery, a misdemeanor, in November.
Police said the victim of the Aug. 2017 incident volunteered to bring potential fraternity members on tours of the fraternity houses. The volunteer went upstairs in the Delta Kappa Epsilon house to make sure no potential members had broken the tour rules and left the main floor of the house.
While on the third floor, a man confronted the volunteer. The volunteer explained his position and turned to leave the floor, but a second man, later identified as Lorusso, pushed him down the stairs.
The volunteer fractured his hand and needed 13 stitches and surgery to recover from the injury.
Lorusso’s next court date is Mar. 21 in Baton Rouge State Court.