Griz player Von Appen held on $10,000 bond

One of three Griz redshirt football players accused of taking part in an on-campus beating in September is now sitting in jail after allegedly assaulting another University of Montana student outside a fraternity house on Halloween weekend.

Cody Von Appen, 18, is being held on $10,000 bail in the Missoula County Detention Facility for violating his conditions of release in connection with the assault that took place early in the morning of Nov. 2 outside Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

According to the Missoula County District Court Clerk’s Office, Von Appen has been banned from campus and forbidden from any contact with either of his co-defendants, the victim or any witnesses in the case.

UM Dean of Students Charles Couture said that Von Appen and Andrew Douglass have withdrawn from UM, but Justin Montelius is still enrolled. Douglass, Montelius and Von Appen face felony assault charges stemming from an on-campus beating in September.

Tim Browne, the victim in the assault on Halloween weekend, suffered from a cut lip that required stitches after he was punched in the mouth.

Browne has not filed charges against Von Appen for the assault. He did not return messages left by the Kaimin Wednesday.

According to Blake Battle, president of Sig Ep, a pledge with the fraternity showed up with Von Appen, Douglass, and another male in the foyer of the fraternity, asking if there was a party that night.

After Browne told them there was no party and asked them to leave, Battle said the four males started to get belligerent.

“They were kinda being obnoxious,” Battle said.

After Browne got them outside and shut the door, Sean Mahoney, a member of the fraternity who lives in the house, said one of the four men kicked in the front door to the house, damaging the doorframe.

At that point, Mahoney said, Browne walked out to the steps and told them to leave once more before Von Appen allegedly punched him.

Mahoney said he could hear Von Appen yelling as they walked to a truck outside and drove away.

“He was definitely shouting profanities and tough-guy talk from the street as they were walking away,” Mahoney said.

Von Appen and Montelius pleaded not guilty to accountability to aggravated assault while Douglass pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault on allegations that they beat a UM student late one night in September, leaving the student with a broken jaw.

Von Appen’s father, Fred, was an assistant head coach for Griz football from 2001 to 2003.

michael.gerrity@umontana.edu