Dr. Brian Calhoun cleaned out his office today.  He was accompanied to his office by Bruce Hartman, chief of SCCCD police and Dr. Peg Mericle, dean of social sciences.

Calhoun and Mericle met for more than an hour before the 69-year-old instructor started carting cases to his car. Calhoun’s 11 a.m. class was not held today and his office hour was cancelled. He declined to answer reporters’ questions.

According to a report by Gene Haagenson of ABC30, Calhoun has been put on administrative leave. The education instructor has been the at the center of an assault and battery controversy in which he allegedly attacked 19-year-old student Kevynn Gomez in the Old Administration Building of Fresno City College on March 22.

The SCCCD police report, obtained by Fresno Bee reporter Pablo Lopez, has six statements corroborating Gomez’s story.

A student of Calhoun’s who witnessed the altercation showed up for her class today and found it cancelled.

Cori Murphey, 19, said she was waiting in the hallway for her 11 a.m. class with Calhoun to begin on March 22.

“[Gomez] came out and called him an a–hole as she was walking out, and [Calhoun] came out after her and asked what her name was,” Murphey said.  “She didn’t give him an answer, so he pinned her against the wall.”

Murphey reenacted Calhoun’s conduct, of the professor holding Gomez against the wall and pinning her with his forearm on the top of her chest.

“[Calhoun] kept asking for her name and then he grabbed [Gomez] by the wrist and tried to pull her inside the classroom,” Murphey said.  “[Gomez] kept telling [Calhoun] to let go and to stop touching her, and he didn’t [stop].”

That’s when Murphey said Gomez “started swinging” at Calhoun.  Then Calhoun “picked [Gomez] up and threw her on the floor.”

The class, which is normally taught by Matthew Espinoza-Watson, was running over its scheduled time.  Witnesses said the altercation happened around 10:54 a.m., which is four minutes after the class was supposed to be over but six minutes before Calhoun’s class was supposed to start.

Jacob Martinez, a 21-year-old liberal arts major and baseball player was walking down the hallway when the altercation was taking place.

Martinez said Calhoun repeatedly walked in and out of Gomez’s class.

Although he didn’t hear what the argument was about, Martinez said he witnessed its escalation.

“Dr. Calhoun grabs her and throws her against the wall and has full wrist control on her,” Martinez said.  “She said ‘let go’ and he didn’t let go.”

That’s when Martinez said Gomez struck Calhoun in the face.

Martinez said that Calhoun threw Gomez into the ground, and that Gomez “defended herself” by kicking Calhoun in the leg area.

“After that, it looked like he was going to start smashing her on the ground, like physically beating her,” Martinez said.

That was when he and several others pulled Calhoun away from Gomez while others helped Gomez to her feet.

When “administration” people arrived on the scene and Calhoun was being led away, Martinez said, “he kept asking, ‘what’s her name?’”

Although Calhoun declined to be interviewed on this matter, Calhoun’s attorney, Roger Nuttal, told his client’s version of events to ABC30.

“So he’s waiting outside, and this female student comes out and proceeds to call him an ‘a–hole mother f—er,’” Nuttal said. “And then he gets slugged in the nose by her,” causing Calhoun’s nose to bleed.

“That’s not his style. [Attacking students.] He’s too smart for that. You don’t attack people; he’s not a violent person,” Nuttal said. “I question the veracity of that young woman, particularly in light of the manner in which she conducted herself.”

Gomez’s attorney, Catherine Campbell, disagreed with Calhoun’s version of events in an ABC30 interview and read eyewitness accounts supporting Gomez’s story.

Calhoun is due to appear in court on June 19.

Fresno City College administrators have not issued a statement regarding how long Calhoun will be on leave, nor have they addressed what his students can expect when they show up for their class.

Dr. Tim Woods, vice president of instruction, declined to give a statement regarding Calhoun.  Instead, he said, “We do not have any further information other than what was provided [in the initial press release].”

However, the SCCCD police report states that Dr. Chris Villa, vice president of student services, told Calhoun that he “was not to return to campus until he receives permission by the administration.”

Meanwhile, Espinoza-Watson, the instructor of record for the class that Calhoun allegedly disrupted while students took their midterm exam on March 22, said that he allowed students to finish their exam during today’s class period.