MDC Arrests Two Suspects In Weeks Bridge Mugging

Two youths were arrest last weekend in connection with the Weeks Bridge stabbing Oct. 27, and Metropolitan District Commission detectives announced that they expect three more arrests soon.

The first arrest was made Friday night, when Cambridge police noticed that a youth at a Cambridge dance hall fit the description of one of the attackers. They immediately informed MDC detectives.

After the Harvard students who had been attacked identified the youth, he was arrested on charges of robbery. The youth gave MDC officers evidence which led to a second arrest on Saturday night.

MDC detectives said last night that the second suspect admits he was present at the Weeks Bridge attack but claims, he played no part in the stabbing. Bail was set today at a reported $10,000.

At least five detectives have been working on the case since the attack two weeks ago. MDC officials yesterday praised the quick cooperation of Cambridge police.

The Harvard victims, Charles C. Vines Jr. '66 and Neter N. Mear '66, were released from Massachusetts General Hospital last Wednesday. Vines had suffered a collapsed lung and Mear a stab wound in the back.

Mear explained last night that he and Vines had been unable to identify the second suspect. "He could have been the lookout man," Mear said.

Searchlights for Bridge

It was learned yesterday that Howard Whitmore Jr. '29, commissioner of the MDC, has agreed to place three large searchlights in the Charles River area between the Larz-Anderson Bridge and the Weeks Bridge. The MDC will also install an emergency phone near Memorial Drive so that Harvard patrolmen can call the MDC immediately in case of further trouble.