State Police Stop Band Buses After Alleged Sign Robbery

The Harvard band was stopped by the Massachusetts State Police in western Massachusetts Sunday as it returned to Cambridge from Cornell University. The police alleged that members of the band stole two small signs from a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Lee.

The police, acting on a complaint from the restaurant where the band stopped for lunch, said they would search the bus, but the signs were promptly returned.

Band manager Shep Rainy '74 said yesterday the police threatened three band members with charges of "petty larceny" and "malicious destruction" and the entire band with "disturbing the peace."

A band member who preferred to remain anonymous said yesterday that one student confessed to the police that he removed a sign and then returned it to them. The spokesman added that another band member retrieved the second sign after conferring with a third student. These three band members are threatened with summonses.

Very Sympathetic

Nicholas B. Soutter, the band's attorney, said yesterday, "The Massachusetts State Police and Howard Johnson's have been very sympathetic and cooperative thus far." He feels that there is a "fairly good chance that the charges won't be pressed."

Rainy said Howard Johnson's may remove the complaint. He added the band "will probably pay the restitution for the damages" caused by the "relatively few who had anything to do with it."

The removal of signs for souvenirs of trips is a practice "not out of the ordinary," according to one band member.

The incident occurred while the band was still in high spirits from its appearance on ABC television during half-time of the regionally shown network football game

Spokesmen from Howard Johnson's could not be reached for comment on the incident.