Probation for Ex-Football Captain

Former Harvard football captain Matthew C. Thomas ‘06-’07 was placed on probation by a Cambridge judge yesterday, and the charges against him will be dropped if he remains out of trouble until June 5, 2007.

Thomas, 22, faced assault and battery charges stemming from a June 5 Currier House incident involving his ex-girlfriend. Cambridge District Court Judge George R. Sprague ’60 dismissed the case over the objections of Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Sean J. Casey, according to the Middlesex district attorney’s spokeswoman, Melissa Sherman.

As part of the agreement, Thomas will have to continue the “treatment plan” he is currently following in Maryland, undergo anger-management training, and complete 50 hours of community service, Sherman said.

She did not specify what “treatment plan” Thomas is currently undergoing.

Thomas and football head coach Tim Murphy could not be reached for comment yesterday evening. Thomas’ lawyer Michael J. McHugh ’73—himself a former member of the Harvard football team—also could not be reached for comment.

After the incident, Thomas was stripped of his captaincy and kicked off the football team. Thomas is taking the semester off from the College, though it is unclear whether any disciplinary action has been taken by the College.

Harvard football player Matthew B. Drazba ’08 defended his former teammate last night, calling him “a great guy” whose story has been misrepresented in the media.

“There’s two sides to every story,” he said. “The story that was going around the team was different from the one in the press.”

Drazba, a defensive tackle, said that he and his teammates believe “everything was overexaggerated and that it was a misunderstanding, that there was no physical violence.”

The incident involving Thomas occurred the night of the Senior Soirée. After the event, Thomas gained entrance to the victim’s unoccupied room by kicking the door down, and was helped to the bed by fullback Michael Lucas ’07, who apparently told witnesses that Thomas was “quite drunk and needed to sleep it off,” according to a police report.

Witnesses said that Thomas frequently stayed in the room after drinking.

When the victim returned, she came back to the room and woke Thomas up. The pair began to argue, and eventually witnesses entered from an adjoining room to find the victim on her back on the bed and Thomas “strangling her with one hand.”

The victim was taken to Mt. Auburn Hospital, where she was treated for a large welt on her lower back and other bruises.

But in an interview with the district attorney’s office on July 26, the victim stated that she had little memory of the incident and “wished this whole case was dropped,” according to documents obtained by the Boston Globe.

The victim stated that she woke Thomas, but “he stood up and seemed a bit out of it at first,” according to the records. Thomas might have accidentally hit her, she said, “but she could not be sure.”

She later told the District Attorney that Thomas had apologized to her and her family and had been forgiven.

The dismissal seems to bring to a close one of several incidents that has plagued the football team’s reputation over the past six months.

Five players, including Thomas, have been dismissed or suspended from the team since late April. Most recently, Keegan R. Toci ‘07 was dismissed after performing a sketch at the team’s annual Skit Night that Murphy deemed offensive.

Starting quarterback Liam O’Hagan ’08 was suspended for the first five games of the season for an undisclosed violation of team rules, and two others were suspended for the season opener against Holy Cross after a scuffle with a shuttle driver in April

“It’s nice to get [Thomas’] name cleared,” Drazba said. “Just because it helps take a little of the attention off of us.”

—Robin M. Peguero contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Katherine M. Gray can be reached at kmgray@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Brad Hinshelwood can be reached at bhinshel@fas.harvard.edu.