When the parents of Ted Finnerty '05 sent him to Dartmouth, they likely pictured him running around the bonfire, building a snow sculpture on the Green and collecting his diploma at Commencement. So there was an unexpected addition to their photo album on Saturday as they watched police drag a handcuffed Finnerty off Memorial Field.
Finnerty, who was charged with criminal trespassing and has to appear in court on Nov. 27, was one of two Dartmouth freshmen to rush the football field Saturday afternoon, although the only one caught and arrested by Hanover Police.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing," he explained. "I wanted to try to get the Dartmouth team to win since we were down 10 points to Columbia at the halftime."
He denied that he was influenced by calls from upperclassmen to rush the field.
"I'm sure there were people chanting that sort of thing, but I wasn't really aware of it," he said.
After running across the field, Finnerty ducked into a tunnel to escape detection from the Safety and Security Officers and Hanover police officers assembled along the sidelines.
The tunnel didn't lead back to the football players' locker rooms, as he had thought, but rather into a dark laundry room. Finnerty raced around frantically -- "confused as hell" -- before hiding behind a cabinet.
Two Hanover police officers found him within minutes, he said, and handcuffed him.
Another freshman also rushed the field, but he was not caught or arrested, and his identity remains unknown.
Chief Giaccone explained that the Hanover Police did not run after the other freshman because the police have a policy of not running onto the field after students who rush.
"We don't want to make a spectacle," he said.
But Finnerty's re-entrance was nothing if not spectacular. "I've never heard so much cheering -- I really have no idea why the police brought me back out onto the field.
"They walked me down the track, actually towards the Dartmouth section!"
Finnerty enjoyed his moment in the spotlight. "I started waving at the stands with an upward motion, and they all cheered for me one last time -- until the police officer held my hands down."
Once in the custody of the Hanover Police, Finnerty was charged with trespassing -- violating Rule 635.2 of New Hampshire state law -- according to Chief of Hanover Police Nick Giaccone. At the police station, Finnerty's fingerprints were taken and he had to pay $30 bail to be released.
Finnerty said he was "surprised that rushing my own college's field constituted trespassing."
While he was aware that students are punished for rushing the field, he didn't know how severe the consequences might be. He is trying to find relevant information about this particular state law.
If he could do it over again, Finnerty would not rush the field, he said. "It just feels really odd."
As for his parents? "They're definitely angry, to say the least," he said.
