Police Arrest Rapist in Mather

A 39-year-old convicted rapist was arrested in Mather House on Saturday after several residents alerted the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) of a suspicious individual wandering around the house.

According to HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano, at 5:06 p.m. on Saturday, officers arrested Ronald R. Vick of Brighton, Mass., on the third floor of the Mather lowrise after a check of his record revealed three outstanding warrants against him. Police charged him with trespassing and breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent of theft, which is a felony.

HUPD would not comment on the nature of the warrants against Vick, but a search of the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) by The Crimson revealed that Vick was convicted of rape in April 1991. He is classified by the SORB, a state government organization, as a Level 3 Sex Offender, which the SORB website defines as an individual for whom the “risk of reoffense is high and the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is such that a substantial public safety interest is served by active dissemination.”

SORB spokesman Charles McDonald said that the state of Massachusetts requires sex offenders to register personal information, including addresses, with the SORB. An outstanding warrant was out for Vick, he said, because Vick was “in violation of his obligation to register, re-register, or to register after moving in or out of the commonwealth, or from one community to another.”

It is not yet known how Vick entered the building, but Catalano said that there was no evidence of a forced entry.

According to Catalano, two Mather residents observed the 6’3”, 150-pound Vick acting suspiciously on the third floor of Mather House.

At one point, Vick—who was wearing white latex gloves—walked into a student’s room, but turned around immediately when he saw that there was someone inside. When the student asked Vick what he was doing, Vick replied that he was an employee and wanted to go into the bathroom. The student then asked Vick why he was wearing the gloves, to which Vick replied that he was picking up the trash, Catalano said.

When the officers responded to the call, they found Vick downstairs talking to three students, who, according to Catalano, were trying to keep Vick around until HUPD could question him.

“There was no violence; they didn’t get into a fight, they didn’t have the guy pinned down,” said Catalano. “But they definitely wanted to ensure that the individual would still be on premises when HUPD arrived.”

Catalano said that the students deserved praise for alerting the HUPD of the suspicious individual.

“The residents in this case did an excellent job,” he said. “Their quick thinking and immediate phone call to the HUPD assisted us greatly in arresting Mr. Vick. This is a great example of students doing the right thing.”

Catalano also said that while the students in this case kept Vick around until the police arrived, HUPD does not encourage students to risk their safety by helping apprehend a suspect.

“We don’t recommend that students put themselves in any danger or harm; we only ask that they do what they’re comfortable with,” he said. “A rapid call to the HUPD is the best thing that can be done. We take calls of suspicious people in resident halls very seriously and we rapidly respond to them.”

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office did not know yesterday whether Vick was still in jail or whether he was out on bail.

—Staff writer Reed B. Rayman can be reached at rrayman@fas.harvard.edu.