Two Students Beaten; One on Critical List

A group of seven hoodlums attacked and beat two Harvard undergraduates Saturday night, leaving one student on the critical list with serious head injuries.

Paul A. Vernaglia, Jr. '70 and Charles P. Pieper '69 were attacked at about 12:30 Saturday night on Dunster Street in front of Kirkland and Eliot Houses.

Vernaglia is in "fair condition and resting as comfortably as possible," even though unconscious and on the critical list, a spokesman at Massachusetts General Hospital said yesterday. Pieper was released after treatment for minor leg injuries at Stillman Infirmary.

Contacted last night, Cambridge Police revealed they had arrested four men alledgedly in connection with the beating, and are seeking a fifth. The four are being held on $500 bail on charges of "Attack with a dangerous Weapon." A hearing will be held at 9 a.m. this morning in Third District Court.

Police identified the four as: Ronald D. Gildair, 19, William J. Scalley, 21, Brian P. Stone, 20, and Ronald J. Bohannan, 21, all of Somerville.

There have been unconfirmed reports that those involved were members of the "Deacons"--a local gang.

Details Unconfirmed

Police officials would release no details about the attack, and requested Pieper--apparently the only witness to the beating--not to talk with reporters. However, several of Pieper's friends and a group of Kirkland House students who arrived at the scene immediately after the hoodlums left have provided a still-unconfirmed account of what happened.

The attack was alledgedly provoked by an incident earlier in the night at the Waldorf cafeteria. After leaving the Pi Eta Club, Pieper and Vernaglia entered the cafeteria, where they saw a group of six or eight unidentified men "bothering" two other Harvard students and their dates, one of Pieper's friends said. Pieper and Vernaglia then tried to intervene, and asked the group to leave the couples alone.

After leaving the cafeteria, Pieper and Vernaglia ran down Dunster Street toward Eliot House. They didn't see anyone chasing them, and thought they were safe until a car full of seven people--apparently the same ones they had seen earlier--roared up behind them and hit Pieper, knocking him into a snowbank.

Hit by Car

The gang jumped out of the car and beat Pieper and Vernaglia, kicking Vernaglia in the head, until the commotion drew a group of Kirkland House students outside. The seven then field in their car while a group of students--several of them on the track team--ran after them. The car's license plates were covered with rags, and none of the students could get close enough to pull off the rags or identify the car.

Meanwhile, other students had taken Pieper and Vernaglia to Stillman Infirmary. Pieper was soon released, but Vernaglia was rushed to Mass General.

During the night, surgeons tried to perform an "exploratory diagnostic procedure" on Vernaglia to determine the extent of his head injuries, Dr. John B. Vernaglia '26, the uncle of the attacked student said yesterday. However, because of Vernaglia's "agitated condition," doctors could not complete the procedure, Dr. Vernaglia, a surgeon, said. He emphasized that this procedure was not an operation, and that so far doctors have performed no operations on Vernaglia.

Witnesses Sought

The Hospital reported Sunday night that Vernaglia--still on the critical list--was "resting and fairly comfortable." Dr. Vernaglia said that the immediate outlook for his nephew "is possibly favorable if he continues to improve as much as he has." However. Dr. Vernaglia said that the long-range prognosis is still "uncertain."

Police officials and relatives of the attack victims have requested witnesses with any information about the incident in the cafeteria or the actual beating to notify the Cambridge Police.