Two Arrested on Plympton

Two college-aged men from New Hampshire served a stint in Cambridge jail last Saturday after they attempted to gain entry into Harvard affiliate housing by scaling a fire escape.

Police arrested David Schulz, 19, of Hampstead, N.H. and Robert W. Hodge, 21, of Derry, N.H. on felony charges of breaking and entering at night and trespassing. The two men were seen early Saturday morning allegedly trying to pry open a window on the fire escape of an apartment complex at 8 Plympton St., a building on the corner of Mass. Ave. that houses graduate students, faculty, and staff from the University.

A resident reported the attempted break-in to Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) at 1:08 a.m. and provided a description of the alleged midnight prowlers.

“An officer stopped the individuals fitting the description in a parking lot at 9 Bow Street,” said Steven G. Catalano, HUPD spokesman.

The two men, who are not connected to the University, never made their way into the apartment building.

“It appears that they did not successfully enter any apartments,” said Catalano. “Being on the fire escape is trespassing, and attempting to enter is breaking and entering.”

The reasons for the duo’s stay in Cambridge remain unknown, police said.

“They were up to no good,” Catalano added.

The apartment, which is the property of Harvard Real Estate Services, shares a building with the Harvard Book Store on Mass. Ave.

Resident Peter A. Arvidson, an eight-year employee at the College’s Molecular and Cellular Biology department, said he was irked to find out about the early-morning break-in from the newspaper.

“It’s kind of upsetting,” he said. “You think the news would be coming from Harvard realty management. They could at least tell us, ‘beware.’”

Arvidson said no one in charge of the property—from maintenance workers to management—has informed him of the arrest, although his apartment has a window facing a fire escape.

“It would be nice to know, ‘You should lock your window. We’ve had suspects,’” he said.

Harvard Real Estate Services officials did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences doctoral student Kevin Haninger, also a resident of the building, questioned yesterday whether the high-traffic area is as safe as it is perceived.

“Even though this area does seem pretty safe and clean in some ways, a lot of police reports seem to be happening in this area, around Bow Street and Plympton Street,” Haninger said.

—Staff writer Robin M. Peguero can be reached at peguero@fas.harvard.edu.