Police Arrest Magazine Seller In Matthews

Harvard University police arrested one man and issued a warning to another in Matthews Hall Monday afternoon, according to a police spokesperson.

The two had been going door-to-door in the first-year dormitory apparently trying to sell magazines, police said.

Michael Iannitelli of Chelsea was handcuffed and taken away by University police at 5:37 p.m. There was an outstanding warrant for his arrest on the charge of receiving stolen property, police said.

The other alleged trespasser, Joseph C. Elia of Illinois, was given a warning and escorted from the Yard. Police said he was told that the next time he was caught trespassing he would be subject to arrest.

Shanti M. Perkins '94, a Matthews Hall resident from East Palo Alto, California, said that that Elia and Iannitelli were trying to sell magazines.

"It was really weird," said Perkins. "He wasn't really making sense. He was trying to sell a magazine. He walked all the way into my room and sat down. I was thinking, my mother told me about things like this. He was really weird."

Police said that the two men, both in their early 20s, were selling publications for a firm called London International Sales. Perkins said the exact titles of the magazines being sold were unknown.

Police and Matthews Hall residents were unsure how Iannitelli and Elia gained entry into the locked dormitory.