Dartmouth French professor Vivian Kogan was arrested on charges of shoplifting and posted $1,000 bail Friday after loss prevention employees at the Lebanon Food Co-Op accused her of stealing dietary supplements from the store Tuesday.
Upon arriving at the Co-op, Lebanon police recorded Kogan's name, phone number and date of birth before releasing her, Patrol Corporal Matthew Isham said. The official written complaint filed against Kogan by the Co-op was then taken to a Justice of the Peace, who recognized probable cause for arrest and issued a warrant. Police contacted Kogan, who turned herself in on Friday and was placed under arrest and released under her own recognizance after posting bail.
Kogan is scheduled to appear in the Lebanon District Court on March 13 at 8:15 a.m., when she will be prosecuted for a class-A misdemeanor, which is punishable by no more than one year in jail, up to $2,000 in fines, or both.
According to the Associated Press, Kogan is accused of stealing about $60 worth of dietary supplements. Her husband, state Rep. Bernard Benn (D-Hanover), confirmed the account, saying that she was "accused of taking pills," though he stressed that she had not yet been proven guilty and that he did not know which types of pills.
Neither the manager of the Lebanon Co-op nor the Administration of the Lebanon Police department were available for comment Sunday.
When asked about how Dartmouth would handle Kogan's arrest and her potential conviction, Roland Adams, director of media relations for the College, said, "We treat confidentially all individual personnel matters, just as we do individual disciplinary cases involving students."
"All Dartmouth students, faculty and staff are expected to abide by the law, and violations of the law may subject members of any of those groups to appropriate Dartmouth disciplinary action depending on the circumstances," he continued. "Of course, it should always be borne in mind that under our system of government persons are presumed innocent until the courts have determined otherwise."
A professor in the French and Italian department, Kogan, 66, is the author of "The 'I' of History: Self-Fashioning and National Consciousness in Jules Michelet." She most recently led the Foreign Study Program to Paris this fall. She is the mother of two Dartmouth graduates, Joshua Benn '96 and Anneka Benn '06.
