Hanover police arrested John H. Wunderlich, 40, of Sutton, N.H. for criminal trespassing in Baker Library shortly after 9 p.m. Monday night.
Wunderlich was described as "frothing at the mouth" and "acting oddly." He allegedly approached females on the ninth floor of the stacks and attempted to initiate conversation, Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaconne said.
Giaconne said Wunderlich was not hostile towards the women, but simply sat and stared at them. Safety and Security Investigator Lauren Cummings said Wunderlich made people nervous and was belligerent towards authorities.
Kerry McCloskey '97 said she saw Wunderlich arguing with Hanover Police and a Safety and Security officer in the library. The police read Wunderlich his rights and led him away from the scene.
Cummings said Safety and Security was called to the scene by a phone call from a woman in the stacks.
Safety and Security called Hanover Police to the scene because they were not dealing with a member of the Dartmouth Community, Cummings said.
Wunderlich's arrest concludes a week-long effort by Safety and Security to locate "an odd-acting male" whose presence was first reported January 6, Cummings said.
He said a woman called to report a male acting strangely in the Reserve Corridor of Baker Library on Jan 6.
Safety and Security then conducted interviews of Library employees and undergraduates who may have seen the man, gathering descriptions.
They had had no success finding the male until Monday night's events, when "he just fell into our lap," Cummings said.
Cummings said Wunderlich was positively identified by the woman who made the original phone call.
He said criminal trespassing occurs when a person refuses to leave an area when asked to do so by an authority.
The charge, which may be classified as a class A or B misdemeanor or a violation, carries a maximum fine of $2,000 and a one-year term in the state's house of corrections.
Wunderlich's arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 25.
