Three arrested on felony charges
By Ann Baum, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Friday, May 21, 2010
Three students were arrested on Wednesday for felony charges related to a May 13 incident allegedly involving cocaine use and subsequent witness tampering, according to a Hanover Police Department press release. All three students have been released on bail, but will face court dates in June.
Brian Shea ’10 and Andrew Lohse ’12 were arrested for cocaine possession, and Lohse and Clark Warthen ’10 were arrested for witness tampering.
The report did not detail what the witness tampering charge entailed, but according to New Hampshire law, a person may be charged with witness tampering if he or she attempts to cause a person to testify or inform falsely, or “commits any unlawful act in retaliation for anything done by another in his capacity as witness or informant.”
“The investigation into this matter continues,” the release stated. “It is anticipated that further arrests will be made in connection to the matter.”
Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone did not respond to repeated requests for comment by press time.
The alleged cocaine use occurred in a common room of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, according to the release. All three arrested students, as well as the student who reported the incident, are members of SAE, according to the release.
“The Hanover Police Department was called to the fraternity in the early morning hours of May 13 by a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon organization,” the release said.
SAE declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing, SAE president Brandon Floch ’11 said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
Director of Safety and Security Harry Kinne said Safety and Security was involved in the initial response in May 13 but requested the assistance of the Hanover Police.
“This investigation is being handled entirely at this point by Hanover Police because it involves a felony,” Kinne said.
Kinne said he was unable to comment further on the case, but he added that the College is aware of the incident.
“I don’t have a specific timeline as far as when students would be going to court,” Kinne said.
It is unlikely that the College will take any disciplinary action until “we have more specific information on the situation,” Kinne said, although he added that was not “definitive.”
“A violation of federal, state, or local laws concerning drugs is a violation of College regulations and is subject to College disciplinary action up to and including separation,” according to the College’s student handbook.
Separation is defined as “permanent removal from the College community,” according to the handbook.
If disciplinary action is pursued by the College, the appropriate sanction for violation of the policy will be determined by the Dean of the College, her designee, or the Committee on Standards, according to the handbook.
Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears and director of media relations Roland Adams declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Director of Judicial Affairs Nathan Miller could not be reached by press time.
Listen for the sounds of a silent, hypocritical faculty. When a Dartmouth French professor was arrested for shoplifting from the Coop, Dartmouth professors were falling over each other to blast The Dartmouth for publishing her name, arguing that in a small community, publishing the names of those not convicted, professor, student, or staff, was unfair and inappropriate.
Funny that when students are arrested and their names published, be it for drugs, alcohol, DUIs, shoplifting, or what have you, the professors can’t seem to be bothered to voice this opinion.
By E.K. Hornbeck on May 21 | 9:23 am
So what? They are just kids! Hopefully they will soon be big contributors to the alumni fund and SAE.
By Pierre de Geyter on May 21 | 10:49 am
Moreover Harry- the Dartmouth, a student run organization is the group that decides to print the student’s names. They never remove them. It is a scarlet letter given by your own peers. Truly an awful way to treat people in today’s age especially when the Dartmouth could have simple policies like archiving their stories after a certain amount of time that would benefit everyone and mirror other reputable organizations.
By Kyle D. Waters on May 21 | 2:49 pm
Anyone else find it funny that Bored at Baker is without a doubt covering this story better than The Disappointment?
By Who is the Real Journalist on May 21 | 3:05 pm
Dear The Dartmouth staff – why was my comment from this morning not published online, when other comments were? I am a legitimate commenter – an 08 alum – and did not say anything offensive. I will paraphrase my comment from this morning: shame on this newspaper for publishing the names of those students. These three students made a big mistake, and could never predict how their actions in that one moment would impact the upcoming years of their lives. Have some compassion for your peers and do not make this situation worse by publishing their names, both in terms of the damage done to their reputations (despite their crimes being yet unproven) and because in publishing their names online, the story gets picked up by many other national papers and blogs, thus publicizing this event further. Have some compassion for your fellow students. Though I understand that “good reporting” requires unbiased publication of all the facts, do not take yourself to seriously – you are only a college paper – and it may be more important to preserve the well-being of your Dartmouth classmates than your high standards of journalism.
By alum08 on May 21 | 3:32 pm
Hear, hear, Alum08. I agree entirely.
By alum09 on May 21 | 4:59 pm
@Hornbeck
stealing items (harming a company) is different than doing drugs (a victimless crime), retard
By umm on May 21 | 5:07 pm
Really alum? The Dartmouth published their names AFTER other newspapers (Valley news etc..) published them. If one does not want their name to be published in the newspaper for being arrested……….don’t get arrested.
By Really? on May 22 | 2:00 pm
I could not disagree more with the absurd outpouring of sympathy for those who have been arrested and charged with felonies. It’s neither the job of their fraternity nor the College to protect them from their own hubris; clearly, their sense of entitlement got the best of them, and now they’re paying for it. Poor people, people in the inner city, people with lives of daily misery are arrested for illegal drug use all the time; they spend years, sometimes decades in prison for it. No outcry from Dartmouth — it’s law and order, after all! When a black person sells drugs, he’s a menace to society. When a Southern gentleman does, he’s just a boy being a boy! If we’re going to talk about hypocrisy, let’s start there.
By D ‘07 on May 22 | 3:33 pm
Correct. Shoplifting $60 in dietary supplements is a Class A misdemeanor. These are felony charges. No one who understands cocaine or how drug trafficking works could possibly call this “victimless.” And no one smart enough to go to Dartmouth could possibly claim that they have no idea of the possible far-reaching consequences of getting caught using cocaine.
The names appear in the public record. They are all over 18 years of age. The names had already appeared on the web (WCAX) and would appear in the morning Valley News. Not including the names would have been meaningless and even suspicious.
By alum05 on May 22 | 4:25 pm
Alum08: The on-line D has a bad habit of not publishing comments critical of its editorial decisions.
Alum05: Interesting that none of this reporting mentions the fact that the ‘10 who called security (Aubart) is one of the Veterans on campus. Maybe because he is also a DartBlog author.
By Daily Observer on May 23 | 8:28 am
@D ‘07 Some of us condemn all arrests under these stupid drug laws, whatever their background. @alum05 No one smart enough to go to Dartmouth could not realize that it’s the illegality of cocaine that allows trafficking to be so profitable and requires it be bought from unethical sources.
By D ‘09 on May 23 | 9:54 am
The key word in the story is “allegedly” The story reports only allegations. Those in college are not children, they are adults. Best to have a reporter dig out the facts and report them rather than having rumor and innuendo dominate.
By Wallace Edward Brand on May 23 | 10:09 am