Police Arrest Junior For Assault

Editor's Note: Since the publication of this story in September 2006, new information has arisen regarding the case in question. The allegations were proven false, the arrest was expunged, and subsequent police investigations and inquiries by Harvard's Administrative Board concluded that the claims made by the alleged victim in the subsequent story had no basis. At the time of these developments, The Crimson was not notified of the exoneration and therefore did not report on those developments. As such, we provide this note as a way of fully documenting the situation to its eventual conclusion.Harvard police arrested a Quincy House junior last Friday on charges of domestic assault and battery, after a female undergraduate alleged that he placed her in a headlock. Nicholas Y. Crowne ’08, of Brooklyn, is scheduled to appear in Middlesex District Court Oct. 30. The 20-year-old student is charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend, who ended the relationship in early August after two years. According to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) report, which is publicly available at the Middlesex courthouse, the victim visited Crowne at around 4 a.m. that night because she was worried about his well being. She was accompanied by a male friend. She found Crowne in his room—”pale, shaking, vomiting, and hyperventilating,” according to the report. During the visit, Crowne “grabbed her by the neck and put her in a headlock, causing her to have trouble breathing,” the police narrative stated. The victim informed HUPD of the incident around noon that same Friday. Two hours later, Crowne was in handcuffs. “Upon completion of the investigation of the incident, a decision was made to arrest the student,” wrote Steven G. Catalano, HUPD spokesman, in an e-mail.  The HUPD report states that Crowne told police that he had been “heavily intoxicated the night before” and “couldn’t remember anything.” But his attorney, David H. Rich, said yesterday that his client “looks forward to the opportunity to defend himself in court and is completely innocent.” “The sole witness identified in the police report has confirmed that the allegations giving rise to the report are inaccurate and untrue,” Rich said, referring to the victim’s friend, who witnessed the incident. He added that “the police report is littered with inflammatory and inaccurate statements and accusations.” The night of the incident, Crowne and the victim had met up at about 1 a.m. at a final club, the police report said. Crowne was allegedly “intoxicated” and became “emotional and upset” after seeing her. He approached and confronted her, according to the report, for bringing a date to the party, “standing very close” and “in a threatening manner.” According to the police report, he grabbed her by the arm and began crying, until others removed him from the party. The police report details a series of tense meetings between Crowne and the victim since their relationship ended in August. She told police that he had “plagued” her with calls and e-mails “all summer long,” even though she asked him not to contact her. A little more than a week ago, according to the police report, Crowne forced his way into her room, reportedly telling her that he had hid in her House’s basement “until 4 a.m. the night before, with the intention of trying to catch her come home with another man.” She noted in the report that throughout their two years dating, he had been “very possessive and controlling with her....[He] would try to control what [she] wore, who she was friends with, and where she went.” However, there were objections to the report’s impugnment of Crowne’s character. “I have known Nick for two years. I have been his classmate and his friend, and certainly the Nick Crowne that I know would never do anything like this,” said Anthony E. Domestico ’07. Crowne is still currently enrolled at the College, administrators said yesterday. —Staff writer Matthew S. Blumenthal can be reached at mblument@fas.harvard.edu.