When he took to the Yale Golf Course on Jan. 26, English professor Traugott Lawler probably thought that sand traps and water hazards would be the only obstacles preventing him from making par. Next time, he might include Yale police in that list.
Currently on a leave of absence, Lawler said that he wanted to take advantage of that day’s unseasonable warmth by getting in a round of golf at Yale’s course. The only problem was that the course was closed for the season. In fact, Director of Golf Operations Peter Pulaski said every entrance to the course was tightly locked.
But this did not stop the Chaucer scholar from somehow entering the facility and proceeding to tee off.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m., Yale police arrived and cited Lawler for simple trespass and ordered him to pay a small fine, Yale Police Lt. Michael Patten said.
In the past, Lawler said, Yale has created a winter course, and he assumed it created one this year too. He said he was careful not to step on any of the greens or tees and to use only the grass previously reserved for winter play.
“All I wanted to do was play a little golf,” Lawler said.
Flower vending is not all it’s cracked up to be
Every day, Lee Hall tries to sell some of nature’s beautiful flowers to willing passers-by. On Jan. 24, though, she was allegedly carrying something that only could have come from a pharmacist’s garden.
Hall, 39, of Eastern Circle in New Haven, was selling flowers at the corner of Chapel and High streets when a Yale police officer approached her and ask to see her vending permit, Patten said. When the officer discovered that she lacked a license, she was promptly arrested.
In accordance with standard police procedure, the officer asked to see Hall’s identification. She complied, but as she reached into her purse she dropped a crack pipe she was holding in her hand, police said. This gave the officer cause to search her purse. Patten said the officer found a syringe and 15 tablets which later tested positive for benzodiazepine — a class of drugs that includes valium.
The officer arrested Hall for possession of a controlled substance and for possession of drug paraphernalia — in addition to vending without a permit.
Guess who’s not coming to dinner
Prestige. Name-dropping. The chance at a high-paying job. These are some obvious reasons why someone would claim to be a Yale graduate.
But Richard Campbell Jr. did it for the dining hall food.
Two Yale Police officers escorted Campbell, 59, of Brooklyn, N.Y., out of the Davenport College dining hall Feb. 2 after he said he was a Yale alumnus in order to gain access, dining hall workers said. He was arrested for first-degree criminal trespass, Patten said.
This was not the first time Campbell has touted his nonexistent Yale degree in order to dine on a sumptuous Aramark repast, Davenport students said.
Students said Campbell first became a problem during Parents’ Weekend.