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BY BENJAMIN BRADLOW

In print | Published February 24, 2005 — Updated January 18, 2010 20:28

Revision Appended

Two students were arrested Friday night after a fight broke out outside of Paces during a fundraising party for Swarthmore Sudan.

According to Swarthmore Borough Police Chief Brian Craig, the students were arrested in two separate, but related incidents. Both spent the night in jail with an original bail of $35,000, of which they were required to post 10 percent. Neither did so at their arraignment that night.

Bruno [name has been changed] was arrested after the Swarthmore Police arrived on campus to investigate messages about a possible fight that were relayed over Public Safety’s radio system.

Craig said that police asked Bruno to produce identification after it was determined that he was involved in the fight. “He attempted to leave … The officer tried to stop him and [Bruno] pulled away,” Craig said. “He was advised repeatedly that he was under arrest.”

After resisting the arrest, “[Bruno] violently pushed backward against the officer,” Craig said. “He was sprayed with a two-second burst of pepper spray.”

According to Craig, the officer who arrested the student suffered a small injury due to the struggle. “The officer sustained a slight injury to his left elbow,” Craig said.

John Krawczyk ’06 was arrested as police were leading Bruno to a police car. “He started yelling obscenities and appeared to be in a highly drunken state,” Craig said. “He stood in front of Bruno and the officers … He then ran into the Intercultural Center and locked the door.” The police could only apprehend Krawczyk after Public Safety opened the door to the IC.

Krawczyk was charged with disrupting administration of the law, resisting arrest, failure of a disorderly person to disperse, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and underage drinking. Bruno was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest, harassment, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

Assistant dean and director of the multicultural center, Rafael Zapata, who was the dean on duty on Friday night, said that the Dean’s Office is holding off on imposing punishments on the two students until all the facts of the case are established. “We won’t take any action until we have the full story,” he said.

Zapata said that many students had talked to him about questions they have about the arrests. “There were a lot of questions. Why were there so many [police] cars?” he said.

Though Craig could not give a specific number of police officers who were at Paces, he said that officers from at least four other departments were there. “There’s no magic formula as to how many is enough,” he said.

According to Director of Public Safety Owen Redgrave, the initial call about the fight came from a Party Associate. “The first [Public Safety] officer at the scene arrived at the same time that the Swarthmore Police arrived.” Redgrave said that the three Public Safety officers on duty tried to complement the police’s actions. “Public Safety generally takes a supportive role,” he said.

Though Public Safety did not specifically request the Borough police’s assistance, Redgrave said that the police responding to incidents reported over the Public Safety radio is not an unusual occurrence. “That is done so that we have the support when the community needs it,” he said. “If they overhear something and it is actionable, then I imagine they would respond to it.”

According to Brandt Rakowski ’06, one of the hosts of the party, one of the party associates called Public Safety, who subsequently shut the party down. Rakowski, the social coordinator for Delta Upsilon Fraternity, which co-sponsored the party with Swarthmore Sudan, said that he estimated that potential money was lost because most people were only beginning to come to the party when it was shut down at about 12:30 a.m.

“We were just starting to make money and unfortunately we had to close it down,” he said.

Cara Angelotta ‘05, the media and communications director for Swarthmore Sudan, questioned the decision to shut down the party. "I was surprised they shut down the party because it didn’t happen in Paces," she said. “It would have raised more money.” But, Angelotta said, “Nobody was hurt and that’s what’s important.”

Another student was also cited for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness, according to Craig.

Revision: January 18, 2010:

The name of one of the students concerned has been removed from this article upon the request of his family.

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