Hanover police arrested Kyle Sherlock '05, a member of The Tabard coed fraternity, and 27-year-old Manchester, N.H., resident Melissa Lardiere early this week on felony charges of possession of a controlled or narcotic drug with the intent to distribute.
Lardiere is an employee of the Dartmouth Outdoor Programs office and Sherlock's girlfriend, Tabard President Michael Guzman '06 said.
The arrests come after police executed a search warrant at Tabard in the early hours of April 5.
During the search, they found a significant amount of marijuana in a room shared by Sherlock and Lardiere, Hanover police chief Nicholas Giaccone said.
The Tabard held a get-together for members and invited guests the night of April 4, the day the house hoisted a sign on its front commemorating that 69 days remained until graduation.
At the party, a fire alarm went off because of cigarette smoke on the second floor, calling the Hanover fire and police departments to the scene, Guzman said.
After about a half hour, the fire department left, but Hanover police told Guzman that they had reason to stay, he said.
At that point, police allowed everyone back into Tabard, but did not allow anyone above the first floor.
About 40 minutes later, police reopened the entire house except for room 10, Sherlock's room, Guzman said.
Police told him that one of the officers noticed evidence of illicit substances in plain view in room 10, while scouring the house for any fires, according to Guzman.
A police officer sat in the doorway forbidding entrance to room 10 for the next two hours until Hanover police captain Frank Moran and another officer arrived with a search warrant, Guzman said.
Guzman expressed skepticism late Monday evening about the evidence that compelled police to seek a search warrant.
He said he was unsure the evidence had been in plain sight, because the police refused to let Guzman accompany them on their search.
"I asked specifically, 'Can I go up there with you? I am the president of this house,'" Guzman said. "He blatantly said, 'No, you cannot. Please go downstairs.'"
The officers claimed everything found before the search warrant had been in plain sight. However, since police searched for a lengthy 40 minutes without allowing Guzman to accompany them, no one really knows, Guzman said.
Giaccone was unavailable for comment on this issue.
The search warrant arrived between 3 and 4 a.m. and police officers did not leave the room until 6:45 a.m., Guzman said. When police left at 6:45, they brought with them various items from the room.
"We have a receipt of what they took, it was a long receipt," Guzman said, while refusing to comment on what specifically the police took.
Lardiere, whose formal residence is in Manchester, N.H., had a lot of her possessions in Tabard's room 10, but did not officially live there, Guzman said.
"If she was living at The Tabard, I can't tell you because the room was Kyle's," Guzman said.
Guzman said that Tabard does not interfere with what its members do in their own rooms.
"What we do at The Tabard is, whatever you do in your personal space is your business," he said.
Sherlock and Lardiere were charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute instead of misdemeanor possession.
The gravity of the charges was based on the quantity of marijuana found and the way it was packaged, Giaccone said.
Lardiere's attorney Gary Apfel refused to comment, and Sherlock and Lardiere were unable to be reached.
Lardiere was arraigned at Lebanon District Court Monday morning and was released on $5,000 bail. Sherlock has not yet been arraigned, according to the court.
Guzman does not expect that Sherlock's and Lardiere's situations will lead to any sanctions against Tabard as a whole.
"It's not a house issue. It is an individual issue," he said.
