POP/ROCK - July 1, 1988

There was much confusion this week concerning the identity of a 19-year-old man first believed to be R&B; singer El DeBarge, who was admitted to a hospital for a gash suffered when he was struck with a champagne glass during a row at a Sunset Strip nightclub early Tuesday morning. Apparently, the injured party is one Darrell DeBarge, a UCLA psychology student, and not the pop singer. DeBarge, the student, denied reports that he had identified himself as DeBarge, the singer, to investigating sheriff’s deputies--even though the report filed by the Sheriff’s Dept. contradicts him. A spokeswoman for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where DeBarge, the student, was treated for his injury, said he may not have realized what he told officers at Carlos’ N Charlie’s, the scene of the incident. A spokeswoman for singer DeBarge’s family said the young man in question is not a relative.