Man Arrested for Allegedly Trespassing Grays Hall

Michael Hawkins, a 60-year-old Brighton resident, was arrested and charged with trespassing the middle entryway of Grays Hall on Saturday, according to Harvard University Police logs.

The alleged trespass was reported by Christian J. Floyd ’18, who said he encountered a “mysterious man” standing at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor of Grays Middle entryway Saturday. According to Floyd, the man asked to use his cell phone, and when Floyd refused, the man took it out of his hand and made a call to an unknown number in Milwaukee.

“I got my phone back and asked him what he was doing here, and he didn’t really respond,” Floyd said. “He wasn’t talking well; I couldn’t really understand much of what he said at all.”

Floyd said he left Grays and proceeded to call the Harvard University Police Department while on his way to the Science Center. According to the police log, the report was filed at 4:05 p.m., and Hawkins was arrested soon after.

The situation was handled “quickly and quietly,” according to freshman resident dean for Elm Yard Jasmine M. Waddell.

“HUPD was on the scene, and they made an arrest, and he was escorted away,” Waddell said. “After that happened, the proctor made sure that the students were doing OK and sent around some reminders about the importance of locking your doors and preventing piggy-backing, and that when you see something, you say something.”

Both Floyd and Waddell said they were unsure how the man—allegedly Hawkins—entered the building. But Waddell added that Grays’s proximity to the street can make it more vulnerable to trespass.

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano declined to comment on the arrest, citing HUPD policy that prohibits comment on open cases.

—Staff writer Brett J. Dowling can be reached at brett.dowling@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @brettjd1996.