Rowers Enter Not Guilty Plea

Two Northeastern University rowers pled not guilty yesterday to charges in connection with the alleged assault of Harvard heavyweight rower Malcolm F. Howard ’05.

Sophomore Brogan Graham is accused of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon—the ground—and sophomore Michael Tripician has been charged with the larceny of Howard’s sunglasses.

Graham and Tripician admitted their involvement in the incident to police, according to a Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) report made public yesterday.

Graham told police he threw Howard to the ground while Howard pursued Tripician, who had just stolen his sunglasses, the report says.

The three were leaving a Habitat for Humanity charity auction held at Weld Boathouse—at the corner of Memorial Drive and JFK Street—on the evening of Saturday, March 8.

Members of both the Harvard and Northeastern crew teams attended the event.

Somewhere between 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., as Howard descended the boathouse stairs, Tripician grabbed Howard’s sunglasses—gold men’s Dyce shades worth about $10—from his head and sprinted onto the Memorial Drive sidewalk, according to the report.

As he was pursued by Howard, the report says, Tripician said he heard teammate and sophomore Daniel O’Shaughnessy yell after him to return the sunglasses.

Tripician told police officers that he turned around and saw Graham hit Howard, whose body slammed into the ground with a noise so loud that it sounded like a gun shot. Tripician then called 911.

According to the report, Graham told police he had pursued Howard and threw his body into him, causing Howard to fall to the ground. Howard sustained “serious facial injuries soaked in blood,” according to HUPD Officer Julie Davie’s statement.

Graham said he ran all the way to Harvard Square, where he boarded an inbound T train and met friends at the Park Street station.

O’Shaughnessy and Northeastern student Joseph “Yossi” Levin witnessed the incident along with four Harvard students, the report says.

When police and ambulances arrived at the scene, O’Shaughnessy told Davie that he and other rowers from both Harvard and Northeastern had not arrived until a few minutes after the incident, according to the report. He told Davie that after investigating, he had told Tripician to leave and that he did not have contact information for him.

According to Harvard rower William A. Ulrich ’05, O’Shaughnessy also told an officer that Howard had been hit by a car.

According to the police report, O’Shaughnessy later changed his story, explaining to police that he had panicked out of a desire to avoid incriminating his friends.

Three of the four Harvard students listed in the HUPD report as witnesses to the incident—Caleb J. Beyers ’04, Catherine C. Randolph ’05 and David J. Bowen ’05—could not be reached or declined to comment.

Following the incident, Howard was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he remained for two days.

He returned to rowing after a week of recovery.

A series of phone calls among rowers from both teams ensued in the aftermath of the incident.

O’Shaughnessy called Ulrich the next afternoon, Ulrich said, to ask for the phone number of Bowen, who is Howard’s roommate and a fellow-rower.

Ulrich said O’Shaughnessy called back 45 minutes later to inquire if Graham had called and admitted his involvement in the previous night’s incident.

Graham had called but had not admitted to his role, Ulrich responded. O’Shaughnessy then said Graham had tripped Howard in “a practical joke gone bad,” according to Ulrich.

Although a HUPD spokesperson originally said on March 9 that they would not investigate the incident, they said on March 10 they had decided to conduct an inquiry.

Graham and Tripician were released without bail from yesterday’s hearing with the stipulation that they avoid unnecessary contact with Howard. Both sides agreed that the pair could still participate in races against Harvard, however.

The two must reappear in court for a pre-trial hearing June 2 before they return home for the summer.

Graham’s attorney, Martin Kane of the firm McGrath and Kane, said yesterday that despite the defendants’ statements to police, “there are definitely some issues in this case.”

Graham and Tripician declined to comment.

Howard also did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

But roughly two weeks after the incident, he said his assailants should be punished.

“I hope the guys who were responsible for this get in trouble for it,” Howard said. “I’m not trying to be vindictive, but I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Jennifer L. Shaw ’04, also a rower for Harvard, said yesterday that the incident does not reflect tensions between the two teams.

“Although we compete with one another on the Charles River, there is never any anger between the teams that would lead to such a fight,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I don’t know what led these individuals to hurt Malcolm, but I hope that they will very much regret their actions on that night.”

Men’s Crew Coach Harry Parker insisted his team has now moved on from the incident.

“That issue is behind us,” he said. “I don’t think that any of us are paying attention to that issue at this point.”

Many members of the crew team declined to comment yesterday.

Parker had sent the team an e-mail yesterday asking team members to refrain from commenting to the press, one rower said, “in order to not let the story break out.”

Ed Klotzbier, Northeastern’s director of communications, said he had not heard of the incident and did not know whether Northeastern would take disciplinary action of its own against Graham and Tripician. But he added that the university’s Office of Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution does investigate cases where legal action is taken against students.

Although Northeastern Men’s Crew Coach John Pojednic could not be reached for comment, Associate Athletic Director for Communications Jack Grinold said Graham and Tripician had rowed as recently as last weekend, more than a month after the incident and long after receiving the summons for the arraignment.

—Staff writer Stephen M. Marks can be reached at marks@fas.harvard.edu.