10/06/2008 1:14 PM ET; Updated 10/07/2008 7:24 AM ET

SALISBURY, Md.- Salisbury police arrested seven suspects in connection with a large fight that occurred early Sunday morning at the Monkey Barrel nightclub on South Salisbury Boulevard. Police say that five of the suspects were Salisbury University football players.

Police say the fight was reported shortly before 2 a.m. Monkey Barrel employees told officers that there were a number of SU football players that were involved in a large fight in the parking lot. Upon arrival, the officers observed a large crowd in the parking lot and attempted to disperse the crowd. While dispersing the crowd, officers observed an assault and took one suspect into custody. At that time a number of additional fights broke out, causing the officers to call for assistance, and make further arrests.

Matthew Lasinski, owner of the Monkey Barrel said, "They acted like jerks and they kept instigating the situation. They started attacking police officers and they grew and grew and grew and they would not leave. They had every chance in the world to leave, and they would not leave."

Employees of the night club told the officers that the suspects had been involved in aggressive behavior for a period of time and had attempted to start fights with other customers.

Police say that during the arrest of one suspect, identified as Justin Taylor Sykes, assaulted Salisbury Police Officer Ken Wilson. Police subdued Sykes and took him taken into custody.

While dispersing the crowd, Salisbury police had to utilize pepper spray to have the crowd comply with orders to leave the property. There were no reported injuries, and during this incident the Salisbury police received assistance from the Fruitland Police Department, Maryland State Police, the Delmar Police Department, the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office, the Salisbury University Police Department, the Princess Anne Police Department and the Wicomico County Department of Corrections. 

The following suspects were arrested:

• Justin Taylor Sykes, 22, of Salisbury, was charged with second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstructing and hindering an investigation and failure to obey a lawful order;
• Justin Lee Acker, 21, of Salisbury, was charged with failure to obey a lawful order and disorderly conduct; 
• Reginald Gooch II, 22, of Salisbury, was charged with failure to obey a lawful order and disorderly conduct; 
• Thomas Tindley Fontaine IV, 22, of Salisbury, was charged with disorderly conduct;
• Ricardo McCain, 22, of Salisbury, was charged with failure to obey a lawful order and obstructing and hindering an investigation.

All of the above were members of the SU football team.

The two other suspects arrested were:

• Tyler Daniel Blumenthal, 21, of Salisbury, was charged with failure to obey a lawful order;
• Erin Eileen Casey, 22, of Salisbury, was charged with failure to obey a lawful order and obstructing and hindering an investigation;

All of the suspects were turned over to the custody of Central Booking.

When contacted about the arrests, SU Football Coach Sherman Wood confirmed with WBOC that the arrested  players are "not part of the program. Their names are off the team's roster on (SU's) Web site."

Salisbury University Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Ellen Neufeldt said, "we hold them all to the same standards to the same accountability and they are all subject to our code of conduct which is based on student citizenship and how we expect our students to behave both on and off campus."

Neufeldt said the five SU football players involved in the fight have been suspended from the university.