The Hanover Police formally charged Michael Volodarsky '08 with misdemeanor reckless conduct last week for a Feb. 7 incident during which Volodarsky allegedly fired a BB-gun shot, striking Michele Nudelman '05 in the leg.
Officers apprehended Volodarsky at French Hall last week and brought him to the police station for booking, Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said.
The Class A misdemeanor carries a potential maximum fine of $2,000 and up to one year in the county house of corrections, Giaccone said.
Volodarsky said in a statement to The Dartmouth that he spent the previous day, Super Bowl Sunday, at Zeta Psi fraternity. After the Super Bowl, he and his friend, a Dartmouth sophomore, went onto the roof to smoke cigarettes.
At that time, Volodarsky and his friend, identified only as Matt, noticed a BB gun sitting on the sill. They subsequently decided to shoot the gun at the garbage dumpster and at a sign by Butterfield Hall, Volodarsky said.
"No one was intentionally aiming at a person," Volodarsky said.
Volodarsky also said that at no time during the shooting did he hear any person shout out from below in pain.
"No one made any noises or exclamations of hurt," he said.
But Nudelman, who was walking home from Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority when she was hit, said she turned around and shouted, "What the hell?" before running inside and calling Safety and Security.
Local prosecutor Chris O'Connor did not comment on what specific punishment his office would seek for the offense.
"There is no minimum mandatory penalty in reference to this case so really when this office comes up with a recommendation normally [the recommendation] is based on what the offense is," O'Connor said.
O'Connor added that his decision to seek a specific penalty will also depend on a review of Volodarsky's criminal record and whether or not he requests a trial.
Volodarsky's arraignment is scheduled for March 15 at 8 a.m. If he pleads not guilty, he will have a trial sometime in May, O'Connor said.
April Thompson, interim director of the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office, refused to comment on any possible additional action that the College might take against Volodarsky.
But the College policy on weapons, as laid out in the Student Handbook, is clear.
"All weapons are prohibited on the Dartmouth campus," the policy reads. The handbook subsequently mentions BB guns on its list of banned weapons.
The incident originally appeared to be a case of multiple BB gun shootings, as Brennan Mallonee '04 said she had almost been hit by a BB shot from the roof of Zeta Psi Friday, Feb. 4.
Those claims, however, have not been substantiated.
Volodarsky said he regrets the whole episode.
"I am sorry for the role that I played in the incident," he said. "It was not intentional."
