A Hanover man has been arrested and charged with simple assault and criminal threatening after he yelled a racial slur and shoved at least one teenager in Collis on July 3.
The man, Asad Khan, 37, entered the poolroom with a woman around 10 p.m. and looked both "out of place" and visibly intoxicated, according to Obianuju Anya '98, who was at Dartmouth with a Summer language program, and other eye-witness reports.
Several African-American teenagers, whose identities could not be confirmed, were playing pool when Khan sat nearby and began to badger them, according to Anya. Michaella Frederick '04, who was sitting with Anya, confirmed that she noticed an aggressive tone in Khan's voice.
One of the teenagers, who later identified himself to the girls as "David," told Khan to "shut up" and "get out of here." The man began to leave while threatening David, according to Anya. The woman he came with had left the poolroom.
Once the man was just outside the poolroom, he turned and yelled "fuck you, nigger!" back in to the poolroom Anya said. While she believed the exclamation was aimed specifically at David, Frederick said she understood it to be directed at the crowded room in general. Most of those in the room were black.
By all accounts, this got everyone's attention.
David and a teenager who later identified himself as "Chris" to the girls ran out after Khan first, according to Anya. Quickly, the entire crowd from the pool room was in the hall.
Trying to prevent a violent confrontation, Anya rushed to where Khan and David were yelling at each other she said. Meanwhile, Frederick said she went to each of the boys and took their pool cues.
Before Anya reached the boys, she saw Khan shove David in the chest. Although they could not see as well, both Frederick and another witness reported something similar.
A Safety and Security report says that the man shoved two people.
After David was shoved, Anya put herself between the two men and demanded they not fight, she said. She then demanded that Khan leave. He exited by the stairs leading up to West Wheelock Street, leaving his female companion behind.
The woman returned to the poolroom shortly thereafter. Anya said she told Chris to follow her and see where she went. Meanwhile, another friend of Anya and Frederick, Heather McLetchie-Leader '02, called Safety and Security.
Anya followed Chris and found him in the back parking lot of Collis with the man and the woman. She heard him tell Khan to "get out of here."
She then went towards Main Street and contacted Hanover Police Officer John Kapusta, who Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone confirmed was the officer who responded to the incident.
Kapusta and Anya found Khan a short distance away near Stinson's Village Store on Allen Street, where Kapusta questioned him and his companion, who arrived later.
The Hanover Police arrested Khan the following Monday, according to Giaccone. He has a court date of August 13 in the Lebanon District Court.
Meanwhile, Safety and Security arrived in Collis and began taking statements from the other witnesses. The teenagers involved identified themselves to the girls as being with the Leadership At Dartmouth program.
Joshua Lozman '01, a LEAD co-ordinator, said that, on questioning, none of the student mentors reported any recent incident involving LEAD participants, and that he did not believe that any LEAD participants were on campus at the time of the incident.
He pointed out that sometimes local teenagers would falsely identify themselves as LEAD participants.
The Safety and Security report said the department would issue trespass letters against the man. Safety and Security Proctor Bob McEwen could not be reached for comment.
Khan was out of town last weekend and did not answer a message left for him.
Giaccone refused to comment further on a case that was going to appear in court.
