UCF PD: Student arrested after fight in CREOL classroom

A UCF graduate student was arrested Wednesday after authorities say he struck another student with a metal rod while the two were in UCF's Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers, according to the UCF Police Department.

Although the details were not given, the altercation is said to have been the result of a dispute over an equipment sign out sheet, according to the arrest report.

Esmaeil "Hooman" Banaei was in a classroom inside the CREOL building using equipment to work on a project. Guangming Tao grabbed Banaei while he was standing on a step stool, pulled his left arm and asked why he was using the equipment, according to the arrest report.

Banaei, a 30-year-old electrical engineering doctoral student, told authorities that while he was falling off the step stool he pushed Tao, a 26-year-old optics doctoral student, in the chest to protect himself, knocking Tao to the floor, the report said. 

Tao stood up, grabbed a metal rod from a drawer in the room and asked Banaei why he attacked him. Tao then used the metal rod to strike Banaei, according to the arrest report.

Tao was charged with aggravated battery with a weapon and booked into the Orange County Jail on Wednesday. He was released that same evening on $5,000 bail, according to the Sentinel.

Banaei said in an email that he plans to hire a lawyer. 

Both Banaei and Tao are listed as graduate research assistants for CREOL.  The two were also colleagues on research papers titled "Structured spheres generated by an in-fiber fluid instability," which was published in Nature magazine this year, and "One-step multi-material preform extrusion for robust chalcogenide optical fibers and tapers," according to their campus biographies.

Because Tao told arresting officers that he used the rod in self defense, the stand-your-ground law may apply, according to the Sentinel. The law allows someone to defend themselves if they are in fear for their life. 

Tao told arresting officers that the incident began when Banaei pushed him to the floor, the report said.  Tao also told police that when he grabbed the rod, Banaei backed into a corner.

Check back for more information as it becomes available.