A football player at Menlo College has been arrested in connection with a potentially deadly assault on another Menlo College student. The incident took place at the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Garwood Avenue in Menlo Park early on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 29, Menlo Park police reported.
Benjamin Kain-Williams of Atherton, the Menlo College football player, and Darrell Willis of Wheatland, California, were arrested and charged with assault resulting in great bodily injury, and conspiracy to commit a crime, police said.
One of the two victims was taken to Stanford Hospital with what police described as potentially life-threatening injuries. Menlo College has identified that man as a student there.
The Menlo College Web site lists Mr. Kain-Williams as a sophomore linebacker on the football team.
“We are a small and very close community of students, faculty and staff at Menlo College, and we are deeply upset by this incident,” said Timothy Haight, the college’s president, in a press release. “Menlo College will continue to stress the importance of responsible behavior, not just among our students, but to local establishments who serve or sell alcohol to college students in their communities.”
The two men who were assaulted were part of a larger group that had exchanged words at a restaurant with another group of men earlier that night, according to preliminary investigations by police.
“The libations were flowing, and so was the testosterone,” said Detective Jeffrey Vasquez. “They had some words, and that was that.”
The group that included the men who were assaulted left the restaurant to get “soda and chips for the road” at a “nearby establishment,” Detective Vasquez said. It appears that the other group followed them there, meeting them in a parking lot, he said.
The groups dispersed and met up again further down the street, where the dispute escalated into a physical confrontation, according to Mr. Vasquez.
Mr. Vasquez said it is still possible that the police department will press charges against some of the other people involved in the fight, including the man who is currently in the hospital. Mr. Vasquez visited the hospital and spoke with the man on the afternoon of Jan. 29. As of the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 30, he said he would still describe that man’s injuries as potentially life-threatening.
The police department asks those with information on the incident to call the department at 330-6300, or the department’s anonymous tip line at 330-6395.
Redwood City attorney sues ‘First Amendment auditors’ after Menlo Park disputeApril 2, 2026 11:31 am
