A man allegedly broke into a fifth-floor McClellan Hall suite Tuesday evening and assaulted several students with a tequila bottle, students said. Reports that the man was carrying a gun were not confirmed.
At approximately 11 p.m., a man wearing a blue Yale Health Plan shirt entered a student’s room, then walked into an adjoining men’s suite where he assaulted and struggled with several annexed Branford College juniors, students said. The man then used a common room window to gain access to a gutter on the roof of McClellan.
Once on the roof, the man attempted to jump onto the scaffolding surrounding nearby Vanderbilt Hall, but fell four stories to the ground and then was placed on a stretcher by police, McClellan residents said. The man was then taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for evaluation.
While inside McClellan Hall, the man put his hand under his shirt and pointed one finger at Andrew Baroody ’03 to make Baroody believe he had a gun, Baroody said. Once Baroody realized the man did not have a weapon, he reached for the man’s hand, after which the man punched Baroody in the back of the head, Baroody said.
The man was holding a pay stub similar to that received by Yale employees, students said.
Yale Police Lt. Michael Patten said early this morning that he had not been told about the incident. Connecticut state police, who local media said were teaming with University and New Haven police to investigate, said they had not been called in to help.
“We are not currently assisting anybody,” said a Connecticut State Police employee who would not give his name.
Students said the man then proceeded into the common room of the suite, where he assaulted a group of students with a tequila bottle and hit Danny Guando ’04 in the head, causing excessive bleeding. Guando was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where at press time he was in stable condition, hospital worker Annette Green said.
The man also allegedly stole money from some of the students. “He took $10 from me, and took money from Stephen Dougherty,” Jon Sela ’04 said. Dougherty is a junior in Branford College.
Students said the man was let into McClellan by a student.
“If students had all access to all entryways, we wouldn’t have to let anybody in,” said one student at the scene.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m., six officers left McClellan and instructed a crowd of about 15 onlookers to move to Phelps Gate. Officers then inspected individual student rooms to secure the area.