U.S. Officials Challenge Serbian Safehaven

July 2, 2008— -- A diplomatic showdown is brewing over the return of a Serbian basketball player accused of pummeling an American student into a coma in an upstate New York bar. The Serbian fled for his homeland with the help of his government, despite a bail condition that required him to forfeit his passport, according to U.S. officials.

Miladin Kovacevic, 20, was among three State University of New York at Binghamton students charged with second-degree felony assault after a May 4 dance floor confrontation in the Rathskeller Nightclub ended with the hospitalization of 22-year-old graduating senior Bryan Steinhauer, according to Binghamton police.

"It was a typical dance floor incident," Lt. John Chapman, a spokesman for the Binghamton Police Department, told ABC News. "Some words were exchanged, some pushing and shoving, and this happened."

The altercation occurred after Steinhauer asked the girlfriend of Kovacevic's friend to dance, police said. Steinhauer, at 5 feet 9 inches tall and 135 pounds, was allegedly beaten by the 6 feet, 9 inch Serbian and two of his friends.

"During the dispute, Miladin punched the victim a couple of times, knocking him to the ground and then repeatedly kicked him in the head," Chapman said, citing witness reports.

Irwin Rochman, attorney for the Steinhauer family, declined to say where his client is hospitalized but said the Brooklyn native, who had a job lined up with accounting firm KPMG in August, remains comatose nearly two months after the incident.

Kovacevic, for now, is safe at home in Serbia, but the U.S. ambassador to the newly independent central European nation, with support from members of the New York congressional delegation, has formally asked Serbian officials to help return Kovacevic to New York.

"This case is a top priority for the U.S. government," Cameron Munter, U.S. ambassador to Serbia, said in a statement released Tuesday. "I met formally today with senior-most officials in the [Serbian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs to formally request that Kovacevic return to the United States to face justice."

Serbian officials assured American diplomats that they plan to cooperate with the request, Munter said.

But it was the actions of officials from the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia that triggered the diplomatic dispute in the first place.