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Man arrested in connection to three separate assaults near Endicott College

BEVERLY, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- An Endicott College student has been charged in connection with three separate attacks that injured students early Sunday morning.

The Beverly Police Department arrested one student in relation to the assaults, which happened while the student victims were walking around the college's main campus.

All three students were walking alone, and each described a similar attack; two men approached the victim. After each victim passed the men, one punched the victim with a closed fist.

Dillon DeStefano, a 19-year-old Endicott student from Riverdale, N.J., was arrested in connection with the attacks. He was charged with aggravated assault and battery.

All three victims suffered facial injuries. One person suffered five broken bones in the face, another suffered a broken jaw, and one sustained minor injuries, according to Beverly police.

Endicott College President Dr. Richard Wylie said, "First reaction was anger, frustration, concern."

He went on to say that the attacks may have been a part of the national trend the "knockout game," where the goal is to knock a person out with a single punch.

"I can't tell, I don't know what was in this young man's mind. This whole notion of just hit somebody and knock them down, it's just unimaginable," he said. "I just can't believe that this is happening in a society like this, and I can't believe it happened on this campus."

DeStefano was accompanied by two other students at the time of two of the alleged assaults, but they have not been charged, police said. All three, however, have been suspended from the school, Wylie said.