Three officers, including one member of the Yale Police Department and New Haven Police Department, escorted a young man from the Branford dining hall before an NHPD officer arrested him outside the dining area around 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening.

According to student eyewitnesses, Branford dining hall staff called the police when they noticed the man, who was not affiliated with Yale, sitting down with a group of students earlier. Three officers — two in uniform and one in plainclothes — showed up at the door to the room, located the man in question, and descended upon him from both aisles of the dining hall.

Megan Valentine ’16 said the man was sitting with a laptop when she and several members of the sailing team sat down at the same table. The man said he was from New York City, Sarah Lawrence College and was conducting interviews for a guide to college campuses, Valentine said.

After speaking for two to three minutes, the man walked out with the officers and they arrested him out of sight from students.

Jason Mazzella ’15 said he heard the man telling officers that he was interviewing students in different colleges for a book he is completing.

Students and dining hall workers eyewitnesses provided conflicting reasons as to the arrest. Valentine said one of the police officers thought the man may have stolen the laptop he was using.

Both the YPD and NHPD officer on the scene declined to comment.