Three Rowdies Beat Freshman, Then Hurl Him Into Icy Charles

A College freshman was beaten and hurled into the frigid Charles River by three assailants early yesterday morning.

Wyit D. Wright '67 had been walking along Memorial Drive just north of Larz Anderson Bridge at 1:30 a.m. Friday when he was attacked. After pulling himself out of the water, he ran to Stillman infirmary, where he was treated for minor abrasions He was released at noon yesterday.

Wright recalls that just before the attack he heard a voice from behind say. "Hey, I bet that's one of those smart Harvard guys." As he started to walk faster, the same voice said "Aw, the Harvard guy is scared."

Two assailants then grabbed and held Wright while the third hit him several times in the face. Wright fell to the ground. The assailants picked him up by his arms and legs, carried him to the river bank, and hurled him in.

Wright surfaced about six yards out from the bank and waded ashore. By then, he said, the attackers were gone. He ran to the corner of Memorial Drive and Boylston St. and tried to flag down a car. Unsuccessful, he ran to Stillman Infirmary. There he was questioned by the University police and the MDC police.

Yesterday afternoon Wright said that there was "no attempt to rob me, no real attempt to beat me up" He said that there was no apparent reason for the attack.

Robert Tonis, Chief of University Police, said that the attack occurred out of the jurisdiction of his men. He added that he had turned the entire investigation over to the MDC police.

An MDC police officer reported yesterday that they were "as concerned as the University about the beating, if not more so." The MDC has put out an alarm for the assailants, but have yet to trace any of the assailants.

Wright was the third University student to be beaten up in this area within the past week. The other two beatings occurred last Tuesday night, one by Weeks Bridge, the other on Plympton St. The University police have established an extra patrol by the Charles to combat the recent rash of beatings.