Police Arrest Mather Intruder

With the help of an alum, Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) detectives arrested a man Tuesday afternoon who allegedly stole a credit card from Mather House.

Detectives arrested Charles Reid, 49, of Boston, on five charges, including trespassing, attempt to commit a crime, larceny from a building, and two counts of breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony.

At about 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, HUPD received a call from a witness alerting officers to the alleged crimes. The witness identified himself to The Crimson Tuesday as Joseph K. “J.K.” Costello IV ’03-’04.

Costello, who graduated in January and now works as an assistant to the Mather administration, said that as he entered the 14th floor of Mather Tuesday he noticed a man he did not know exiting his suite.

Costello then followed the man, who was wearing a silver coat and a stocking cap, to the ground floor, calling police while he was riding the elevator.

He told police that he was following a suspicious person who had just left his suite in Mather House, HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano said yesterday.

Costello said he followed Reid out of Mather Tower, maintaining contact on his cell phone with police officers.

“The witness was giving out information about where the person was,” said Catalano. “At that time, two of our detectives were in the area. They observed the person described by the witness, stopped the suspicious .person, conducted an investigation, and placed him under arrest.”

Catalano said HUPD determined that Reid, who he said has been arrested by HUPD in the past, stole a credit card from Mather.

Costello said Tuesday that as he walked behind Reid, Reid “threw something out of his pocket on Bank Street. It was a credit card, and I picked it up.”

The credit card, a VISA, belonged to Siddharth B. Shenai ’04, a physics concentrator who lives on the 17th floor of Mather Tower, according to Costello.

Shenai said Tuesday that he was in the shower at the time of the incident and that the lock on his suite’s door had not worked since the fall.

Reid was arrested by HUPD in November 1999 for trespassing in Currier House while claiming he was visiting a person in the House.

At that time, HUPD told The Crimson that Reid had been admitted to Currier by the bells-desk clerk after telling the clerk he was a dining services employee.

The Currier student who called the police to alert them to Reid’s presence in that incident told The Crimson then that police told him Reid had been released from jail seven months previously, after serving 10 years for armed robbery.

Catalano said yesterday he could not confirm details of Reid’s criminal record because of confidentiality issues. Catalano commended Costello for his fast thinking and help with the arrest.

“We always want witnesses or victims to do what they are comfortable with,” Catalano said. “Minimally we ask people to call the HUPD right away with a detailed description of the incident and of the suspect if possible. We were happy to capture this offender and that no one was hurt.”

—Daniel J. Hemel contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Hana R. Alberts can be reached at alberts@fas.harvard.edu.