Former basketball player Lewis Monroe arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge

Former IU basketball player Lewis Monroe, 24, was in the Monroe County Jail Wednesday night after being arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge.\nAccording to police records, the arrest stemmed from an April 7 incident, when Monroe, a senior, allegedly assaulted a 22-year-old man outside of Kilroy's Sports Bar in the 300 block of North Walnut Street. \nDetective Sgt. David Drake said Officer Ethan Haley was "flagged down" soon after the assault, which occurred at 3:13 a.m. Both Kilroy's Sports Bar employees and security guards for Graham Securities were in the Taco Bell parking lot at 7th and North Walnut Streets with the victim, who was sitting on the ground bleeding with a laceration to the back of his head.\nA security guard who witnessed the attack said the victim had been "badgering" some IU basketball players about their poor performance this season when Monroe hit him.\nA punch to the lower left jaw knocked the man to the ground, where his head snapped back and hit the concrete. A security guard said when the victim's head had hit the sidewalk, he "began making a gurgling sound and shaking, as if convulsing," Drake said, reading from the report.\nThe 22 year-old briefly lost consciousness, witnesses at the scene reported. He was taken to the hospital following the incident.\nWhile the victim was unable to see who his attacker had been, both his cousin, who was a witness to the incident, as well as a security guard, positively identified the perpetrator as Monroe.\nMonroe was arrested after failing to cooperate with Bloomington police, who had difficulty locating Monroe to ascertain his side of the story. A warrant was issued Tuesday for his arrest on a misdemeanor battery charge.\nMonroe was booked into the Monroe County Jail Wednesday afternoon and held on a $6,000 bond. Drake said the bond was $5,500 surety and $500 cash. \nJail records show he was released on bail early Thursday morning.\nMonroe, a native of Madison, Wis., transferred to IU from Auburn University in 2004.