Dean of the College Lee Pelton called Thursday for a panel to investigate sophomore Brian de Moya's allegations that he was threatened and mistreated by Safety and Security officers Saturday night.
De Moya said he was later assaulted by a Hanover Policeman called to the scene by the Safety and Security officers. He told The Dartmouth Wednesday he had a bruise on his upper right eye socket from being thrown into a concrete wall by the police officer, as well as cuts and other bruises.
In a letter Pelton published in The Dartmouth today, Pelton said he requested that Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson appoint a panel from the College community to investigate the allegations "in order to determine what actually occurred."
Nelson appointed Ozzie Harris, associate director of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, to chair the panel. Pelton told The Dartmouth last night that Harris was chosen because he is well respected by the College community and has conducted a number of fact-finding studies.
Harris will select an administrator not connected to the Dean of the College office, a member of the faculty and a student to serve on the four-member investigative panel.
Harris said he hopes to have the panel's members chosen by today, and "we hope to have the investigation under way within the next 10 days and have it concluded as quickly as possible."
Nelson said he requested that the panel report its findings during the week of Feb. 16, at which time Pelton will decide what action, if any, to take.
Harris said the fact-finding panel will look at the facts and interview everyone involved before making recommendations.
"We want to come up with a way to avoid this happening in the future, but I don't know at this point that anything that happened was wrong," Harris said.
De Moya said he is "satisfied" with the administration's handling of the incident and is pleased the panel is being created because it shows they are taking his allegations seriously.
He said he has been in regular contact with the office of the dean of the College, through Assistant Dean of the College Katherine Burke.
De Moya said Hanover Police Chief Nice Giaconne told him Wednesday evening that he is "not going to be charged with anything."
Giaconne told The Dartmouth Thursday that Hanover Police have not yet decided whether to charge de Moya, but he expected a decision by the end of the week.
Safety and Security directed all inquiries to the dean of the College's office yesterday.
De Moya detailed his story in a BlitzMail message that circulated to more than 500 students Tuesday and Wednesday. The message included de Moya's official written response to a Safety and Security investigation of the incident.
De Moya told The Dartmouth Wednesday that two Safety and Security officers came to his room around midnight in response to a noise complaint last Saturday.
Bert Sperling '00, de Moya's roommate, said he threw a birthday party for himself in their room earlier in the evening but all of the guests had left at approximately 11:30 p.m.
Only de Moya, Sperling and Sperling's girlfriend were in the room when the Safety and Security officers arrived, Sperling said.
De Moya said Sperling and his girlfriend were in Sperling's bedroom and De Moya was in his bedroom getting ready for bed when the Safety and Security officers arrived. The outer door to their three-room double was open, and the officers came into the common room and knocked on the door to de Moya's bedroom, he said.
De Moya said one of the Safety and Security officers was "antagonistic and belligerent" and seemed to be "looking for a fight." De Moya said the other "didn't really say much and just stood on the other side of the room and watched."
The first Safety and Security officer asked de Moya, as well as Sperling and his girlfriend, for their Dartmouth student identification cards, de Moya said.
De Moya said he then went back into his room, and -- at the officer's request -- Sperling began to pick up the empty beer cans which were left in the common room from the party. De Moya said he then helped Sperling pick up the empty cans and the two students went to the hall bathroom to throw the cans away.
De Moya said the officer asked the students if they had been drinking. Sperling replied he had been drinking a few hours earlier, but de Moya and Sperling's girlfriend said they had not been, according to de Moya.
When de Moya and Sperling returned from the bathroom, de Moya said, the officer asked de Moya if there were more beers in their refrigerator and if he wanted to search the refrigerator to check. De Moya said he told the officer he "did not feel like it" but offered to let the officer search the refrigerator himself.
De Moya said the Safety and Security officer then kneeled down and began removing beer cans from their refrigerator and told de Moya and Sperling they "were going to have to go to Dick's House or spend the night with a male friend."
"I said, 'I told you twice already that I haven't been drinking, and I'm not going anywhere but to bed as soon as you guys leave,'" de Moya said. "I spoke in a completely normal tone of voice."
De Moya said the Safety and Security officer then started to yell and swear at the two male students and threatened them with a night in jail, police involvement and fines.
Sperling said the officer then made a call to the Hanover Police for backup, "and reported 'two drunk, uncooperative males and a person who was not from the College who would not leave the dorm,'" according to Sperling.
De Moya said both he and Sperling were becoming agitated at this point, and Sperling suggested that they both leave the room to avoid a confrontation with the officers.
The two then put on their jackets and headed towards the door, de Moya said, but the officer "wedged himself in our doorway" making it impossible for them to exit and threatened them with profanity "about what he would do if we tried to leave."
In his BlitzMail message, de Moya said he thought Safety and Security are not permitted to detain or touch students.
Pelton said last night he would not comment on the particular events, but said "under certain circumstances Safety and Security has the right to detain individuals in order for them to faithfully discharge their duties."
After convincing the other officer to let him use the bathroom, Sperling said he was escorted to the bathroom by one officer while de Moya remained in the common room with the first officer.
Sperling said he did not return to the dorm room after using the bathroom and instead continued down the hallway past their room.
De Moya said Sperling, who was walking away from the room, was chased by both officers, and the first officer grabbed his arms and began forcing him back to the room.
De Moya said he then exited the dorm room and began walking away from their room in the opposite direction and down the staircase.
The officer then saw de Moya and ran after him, de Moya said. De Moya said while he was walking down the stairs "chased by" the Safety and Security Officer, he saw a Hanover Police officer at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor.
De Moya said, "The Safety and Security officer yelled 'That's him! That's him!' and pointed at" de Moya. De Moya said he continued to walk slowly and calmly as he walked down the stairs towards the police officer.
"The officer quickly put me in a very tight headlock and slammed me up against a concrete wall," de Moya said. "He was wedging my head pretty forcibly into the wall."
De Moya said he did not resist offensively, but did stiffen his muscles so the police officer would not be able to throw him down "too hard into the ground."
De Moya said the police officer eventually got him onto his hands and knees and then forced him onto his elbows and knees.
De Moya said he eventually agreed to lie flat on his back after the police officer produced a can of Mace and threatened to spray him with it. He said he then lay flat on his stomach and the police officer sat on top of him and cuffed him.
De Moya said he sat cross legged, handcuffed, and began screaming, swearing and crying.
"I heard the Safety and Security officers mocking me crying," de Moya said.
Mark Hill '00, an undergraduate advisor on the first floor of French, said he heard loud screaming Saturday night and went up to the second floor where he saw de Moya and the officers.
"I saw two Safety and Security officers, one police officer and a sophomore," Hill said. "The officers were surrounding him. The kid was hysterical, wondering [aloud] why they arrested him and claiming police brutality."
Hill said he did not see the officers do anything which he would call brutality.
Alana Heller '01 said she heard one of the officers swearing and threatening de Moya while she was sitting on the first floor stairs.
"We saw a cop go running in, and then we heard a thump," Heller said. "We heard Brian saying 'What did you just tackle me for? I didn't do anything.'"
De Moya said he was then walked outside to the officer's patrol car and taken to the Hanover Police station. He said he was never told he was being arrested or read his Miranda rights.
At the police station, de Moya said, he heard the police officer talking to another police officer about whether or not to charge him with resisting arrest.
"I asked them what arrest I was resisting and they decided not to book me on that," de Moya said. "I was unhandcuffed but my wrist was bleeding and painful."
De Moya said he offered to take a breathalyzer test when the police officers mentioned taking him into protective custody for intoxication. De Moya said the test resulted in a blood alcohol content of 0.00, since he had not been drinking.
De Moya said after he was taken back to his room at around 1:30 a.m., he went to Dick's House to have his injuries treated and documented.
After de Moya was taken to the police station, Sperling said, he went back to his room where Safety and Security officers gave him a citation for possession of alcohol.
De Moya said Giaconne told him Wednesday that Sperling will be charged with possession of alcohol.
De Moya said he received a notification from Safety and Security yesterday that he violated the College's policy on underage possession.
