Undergrad Arrested on LSD Charges

Editor's Note: As of 2009, both felony charges against Siebach were dismissed in court.

Police arrested a Quincy House sophomore last Friday night on drug charges following a violent struggle to subdue a second undergraduate who was allegedly under the influence of drugs, naked, and “acting in an agitated, incoherent, and violent manner,” police said.

Soren J. Siebach ’08 was charged with possession of LSD with intent to distribute after police found 38 “hits” of the drug in his room, Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) spokesman, Steven G. Catalano, wrote in an e-mail.

The second undergraduate, who allegedly struck two police officers in the face after darting down the halls of Quincy House nude, was hospitalized that same night.

He will face criminal complaints of assault and battery against two police officers and possession of marijuana. HUPD will not release the student’s name until he is formally arraigned, Catalano said.

At about 6:15 p.m. last Friday, HUPD officers were called to the second floor of Quincy’s C entryway to investigate a report of a nude male acting strangely, according to Catalano.

The student, Siebach’s roommate, did not respond to the officers’ commands, initiating a struggle that turned violent, Catalano said.

“The officers then attempted to stop him by physically grabbing him,” he said. “The student was extremely sweaty and slipped from the officer’s grasp. The male then ran down the hall and attempted to get into a door.”

Catalano said that after being unable to get inside, the student ran back to the officers, who continued to “issue verbal commands for him to stop.”

“The individual refused to stop and struck both officers in the face and head,” Catalano said.

The student was eventually subdued and taken to Cambridge Hospital for evaluation, he added.

“A decision was made at the scene to deal with the first individual’s medical issues first and then deal with the criminal charges at a later date,” Catalano wrote in an e-mail yesterday about police’s decision not to arrest the student.

The charge of assaulting a public employee while engaged in the performance of his or her duties carries a minimum sentence of 90 days and a maximum of two-and-a-half years in prison, or a fine between $500 and $5,000, according to Massachusetts General Law.

HUPD also allegedly found a bag of marijuana in a pair of pants that had been left at the scene. Officers believed that the pants belonged to the nude student.

After sending the student to the hospital, the officers went back to his suite, where they spoke with Siebach and found a bag containing what they believe were 38 “hits” of LSD.

Siebach faces a maximum 10 years in state prison, a maximum two-and-a-half years in a house of correction, or a fine between $1,000 and $10,000 for possessing LSD with intent to distribute.

Siebach also voluntarily gave the officers a bag of marijuana, Catalano said.

The additional marijuana charge carries a sentence of no more than two years in prison, or a fine between $500 and $5,000, or both.

Siebach was also charged with a drug violation within a school zone, which carries a minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. The University-affiliated Radcliffe Child Care Center on the first floor of DeWolfe is across the street from Quincy.

Quincy House Master Robert P. Kirshner ’70, Harvard College professor and Clowes professor of science, said Saturday that he did not yet have a full report of the incident but that “as always, our first concern is for the health and safety of everybody in the House.”

John McMillan, resident tutor in Quincy, confirmed that he witnessed the arrest but did not want to comment further.

“I was present when the student was arrested but didn’t have any involvement,” he said.

Theresa H. Cheng ’08 was in Quincy House during the incident and saw the HUPD officers arrive at the scene.

“I saw cops in the entryway,” she said. “I knew something was up because of that. I saw two cops and this other guy in a suit—I didn’t know who he was. I was just warned not to go upstairs.

Cheng, who knows Siebach and his roommates, said they are well-liked and that she was surprised to hear of Siebach’s arrest.

“[It’s] definitely a surprise,” she said. “They’re amazing people.”

Neither the hospitalized student nor Siebach responded to requests for comment Saturday afternoon. Siebach is slated to appear in court for his arraigned today.

—Staff writer Marianne F. Kaletzky can be reached at kaletzky@fas.harvard.edu.