Super Bowl revelry turns ugly
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UMass vows swift discipline
By BEN STORROW and SCOTT MERZBACH Staff Writers
University of Massachusetts officials are promising prompt disciplinary action against the 13 students arrested during the on-campus disturbance following Sunday's Super Bowl.
"They are interested in resolving this quickly," UMass spokesman Daniel Fitzgibbons said of state in the Dean of Students' office.
The students, who were arrested on charges including disorderly conduct, inciting a riot and failure to disperse from a riot, all pleaded not guilty to the charges during their arraignments in Eastern Hampshire District Court Tuesday.
Fitzgibbons said the students will be called to the Dean of Students office.
"At that point, the case is reviewed against them and they can present their side,"he said.
Police in riot gear used percussion and smoke grenades to help clear a crowd of some 1,500 people at UMass following the New York Giants' 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots.
There were 14 arrests, 13 of whom were UMass students. State and Amherst police were called to assist.
A large crowd of UMass students gathered in the Southwest dormitory plaza shortly after the game around 9:55 p.m. Sunday, said university spokesman Edward Blaguszewski. He said police ordered the gathering to disperse at 10:08 p.m.
Students wearing both Patriots and Giants jerseys could be heard chanting "USA, USA" as bottles of beer and rolls of toilet paper were thrown into the air. At one point, a student appeared atop the roof of one of the low-lying dormitories while the crowd roared in approval.
Police wearing riot gear circled the crowd warning away students seeking to join the fray. Officers used a series of smoke and percussion grenades, which rattled the plaza.
The students who remained formed a line, taunting and cursing police, who amassed at the south end of the plaza behind UMass officers on horseback. A video posted online showed students throwing beer bottles at officers.
The police did not wait long before marching in a line, crossing the plaza and driving the students back.
There appeared to be relatively few clashes. One student was wrestled to the ground by three officers. The whole exchange took a matter of minutes, with the plaza largely clear within 15 minutes.
Blaguszewski said pockets of rowdy students remained following the main encounter in the plaza. In all, it took police about 1½ hours to contain the situation, Blaguszewski said.
The following 11 people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, police said:
Robert J. Callahan, 20, of Stoneham; Ciaran S. Fitzpatrick, 18, of Cambridge; Joseph R. Habackler, 18, of Salisbury, Conn.; James C. Maheras, 21, of Peabody; Trevor J. McGlynn, 20, of Bellingham; Nicholas L. McGrath, 20, of North Reading; Victoria F. Preston, 19, of Malden; Cullen E. Roe, 19, of 286 Sunset Ave. Unit 221; Zachary A. Shuster, 21, of Holliston; John K. Slepchuk, 18, of Wilbraham; and Kevin Patrick Wholey, 22, of Hull.
Callahan, Fitzpatrick, Preston, Roe, Shuster, Slepchuk and Wholey were also arrested on charges of failure to disperse from a riot, police said.
Maheras was also arrested on charges of failure to disperse fom a riot, interfering with a police horse and resisting arrest, police said.
McGlynn was also arrested on a a charge of inciting a riot and failure to disperse from a riot, police said.
McGrath was also arrested on a charge of inciting a riot, police said.
The following three people were arrested on charges of failure to disperse from a riot, police said:
Michael Norman Geoffrion, 21, of 127 Brittany Manor, Amherst; Michael J. Guarino, 19, of Peabody; and Barry Michael Guglielmo, 20, of Wrentham.
Guglielmo also arrested on a charge of inciting a riot, police said.
Fitzgibbons expects there will be input on each case from police.
Under the Code of Student Conduct, sanctions the university can impose include suspension or expulsion.
In the case of expulsion, this would mean a permanent removal of the student from the campus and a sanction on the student's transcript. The student would also be barred from campus. A suspension would be at least for the remainder of the semester and would mean the loss of academic credit, and the possibility of also not being allowed on campus.
