Student Arrested Following Flashing

An allegedly inebriated Harvard Law School student learned he did not have the luck of the Irish this past St. Patrick’s Day when he was arrested for flashing his pot of gold in public.

Benjamin E. Huston was arrested last Friday at 5:20 p.m. for exposing his genitals to oncoming traffic, according to Boston Police Department (BPD).

“There was an officer performing a traffic detail on Cambridge Street,” BPD officer Michael P. McCarthy said. “Fifteen individuals exited the Sports Depot Bar and crossed the street, and one of the individuals remained on the street pointing and waving at cars, trying to get their attention.”

Huston was impeding traffic, McCarthy said, so the officer went over to attempt to get him out of the street.

“The officer then noticed that he was showing his genitals to the traffic,” McCarthy said. “It wasn’t even mooning. Maybe he was about to, but he pulled the front of his pants down and exposed himself to all the cars.”

When the officer attempted to arrest him, Huston was allegedly resistant.

“He made it a point to make it known he was a Harvard Law School student and that he would see us in court,” McCarthy said. “It seems he thought it would make a difference in the outcome of the incident.”

A court hearing was held yesterday morning in Brighton, and Huston was charged with one count of open and gross lewdness and one count of disorderly conduct.

He was released without bail and ordered to return to court on April 3, said Jake M. Wark, spokesman for Boston’s District Attorney’s Office.

Huston could not be reached for comment yesterday.

—Staff writer Anna L. Tong can be reached at tong@fas.harvard.edu.