4 Arrested, Cop Hit In Brawl Involving More Than 100

A fight involving two young women at Dominican College Monday night escalated into a large brawl involving more than 100 students and a former student that required police officers from four different agencies to break up, according to .

An Orangetown police officer was attacked trying to break up the fight, but was not seriously injured. Police said three women and a man were arrested, with one woman ordered held in the Rockland County Correctional Center in New City this morning.

Orangetown Sgt. James Sullivan said the cause of the fight is uncertain, but it appears that the situation grew into a melee as friends of the two young women at the center of the incident stepped in to assist. Sullivan said police officers who arrived at the Dominican College campus off Western Highway at about 9:45 p.m. found more than 100 people fighting and could not get them to stop.

Orangetown police called in State Police, officers from the Rockland County Sheriff's Department and Clarkstown police to assist in stopping the fight, which took place adjacent to one of the student residence buildings on the campus. Sullivan said a town police officer trying to make an arrest was punched in the face numerous times by a student trying to free the student being arrested.

The police officer was treated by emergency medical personnel at the scene of the fight and did not require hospitalization. Police said none of the students were seriously injured in the fight.

Sullivan said the incident did not involved drugs or alcohol, and there was no reported damage to the college. In addition to the attack on the police officer, Sullivan noted that students were also kicking police cars as officers tried to break up the disturbance.

Orangetown Police Department, no drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident.

Dominican College said this afternoon that its has begun an internal investigation and is cooperating fully with law enforcement officials.

Arrested were:

- Stephanie Paniagua, 18, of Manhattan; she is charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration. She was arraigned in Orangetown Town Court this morning and ordered held in the county jail pending a hearing.

- Victor Cosme, 21, of Brooklyn; he is charged with obstruction of governmental administration, inciting to riot and disorderly conduct. He was released this morning pending a hearing in Town Court.

- Stephanie Dowe, 20, of the Bronx; she is charged with disorderly conduct. She was released pending a hearing in Town Court.

- A third woman, from Manhattan, is charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. She was released pending a hearing in Town Court.