Beating at NMC allegedly fractures jaw of student

A beating at the Northern Marianas College campus in As Terlaje on Sept. 2 left a student with a broken jaw that had to be fixed in Guam. Although the victim is now back on Saipan, he is still being fed using a tube because he remains unable to chew his food, police said.

The suspect, Mark Aguilar Espeleta, 20, was arrested on Monday in Finasisu on charges of aggravated assault and battery, and assault and battery. His bail was set at $10,000 cash.

Preliminary hearing will be on Oct. 6 at 9am.

At yesterday’s hearing, Superior Court associate judge Kenneth L. Govendo ordered Espeleta to stay away from the victim and NMC.

Detective Raymond B. Borja stated in his report that a police officer had responded to the Commonwealth Health Center on Sept. 2 after receiving a call about an assault and battery incident.

Borja said the victim told police that he was sitting on a bench and talking to a female classmate at NMC next to the Nursing Office at 8am that day when Espeleta approached them.

The suspect asked the victim if they could speak in private. As the two were walking away, Espeleta allegedly punched the victim on the left jaw, causing him to fall to the ground. The suspect then also kicked the victim once in the chest.

The victim lost consciousness. When he regained his senses after several seconds, he saw his brother trying to stop Espeleta from further assaulting him.

Espeleta allegedly also tried to punch and kick the victim’s brother, who managed to block the assault.

A security guard and other bystanders stopped the fight. The brother brought the victim to CHC for treatment.

The X-ray photos were, however, not clear so the victim was referred to the Seventh Day Adventist for a better X-ray of his injury.

At Seventh Day Adventist, the X-ray showed that the victim’s left jaw had been fractured. A Seventh Day Adventist doctor recommended surgery.

As no doctors on Saipan is qualified to perform the surgery, the victim left for Guam on Sept. 13 to have his jaw fixed. A Guam doctor reportedly told the victim he was lucky that he showed up early for surgery or his face would have become deformed as a result of the injury. The victim reportedly incurred more than $4,000 as a result of the surgery.

After a couple of days in Guam, the victim was brought back to Saipan. To eat, his food has to be ground up so he could eat through a straw. His speech remains affected, police said.