Police recently arrested four members of the Dartmouth football team and one Santa Barbara, Calif. resident on charges of home invasion after they allegedly entered an Isla Vista, Calif. home following a dispute at a party.
The students are spending Winter term at the University of California-Santa Barbara, along with several other team members.
According to the police report, Santa Barbara resident Jason Murphy arrived at the party with several friends around 1:15 a.m. Friday. There, Murphy allegedly got into an argument with two men. Murphy was asked to leave and not return.
One hour later, however, Murphy returned with about 20 friends, most of whom were from Dartmouth. He allegedly began to argue again with the residents who asked the group to leave.
Murphy and four College football players -- Terrance Cunningham '06, Christopher Green '06, Stephen Jensen '05 and Brian Osimiri '06 -- allegedly walked into the house through the closed-but-unlocked front door. Resident Stephanie Ligon said she was going to lock the door, but the men forced it open and began yelling and throwing cups of beer at those inside. Several residents called the police, who arrived at the scene and apprehended the five men.
Murphy told police that he was pushed to the ground and kicked in the head during the initial confrontation as he, Osimiri and four others were leaving the party. According to Murphy, the second confrontation was verbal rather than physical.
"There was no fighting when we came back -- just a lot of yelling and shouting," Murphy said.
Murphy stayed at the scene after the altercation, because he felt he had done nothing wrong. "I didn't think anything was going to happen," he said.
Football coach John Lyons was unavailable for comment.
College Director of Athletics and Recreation Josie Harper said Tuesday afternoon that she had not yet heard of the arrests and declined to comment further.
Football team captain Casey Cramer '04 also declined to comment Wednesday.
