ROCHESTER, N.Y. — One of the two former University of Rochester football players injured in a kidnapping less than three years ago is suing U of R for negligence.

Nicholas Kollias says the university also actively tried to hide from the student body an earlier crime that sparked his kidnapping.

Kollias and a second student were kidnapped in 2015 and held at a Harvest Street home for nearly two days before their rescue by police.

The lawsuit says the pair were tortured because the kidnappers thought the two were connected to Isaiah Smith, a fellow UR football player that Kollias says was also a drug dealer.

He claims UF football coaches knew about Smith's activities, but they turned a blind eye.

Just a week before the kidnapping Smith had robbed drug suppliers at Brooks Crossing, which is off-campus university apartments. Kollias says team staff bailed Smith out of jail after his arrest.

The lawsuit says no public safety alert was issued, which would have told students and faculty that a violent crime had taken place on university property.

Smith is serving 13 years in prison.

University officials say they're reviewing the lawsuit and added in part:

"We view the events of December 2015 as truly heinous and we wish the best for both students — now graduates — who were involved. However, we plan to defend against the allegations this lawsuit contains, chiefly that the University failed to protect Mr. Kollias from the circumstances of his abduction."