A man “apparently under the influence” drove a pickup truck into Harvard Yard Wednesday night and nearly hit several students before crashing into the edge of the Lamont library, according to Harvard Police Pokesperson Steven G Catalano.
Brianna C. Turner ’23 said she was walking past the Widener Library in a hurry to get to a meeting around 9 p.m. when she heard screams in front of her.
“Headlights came up to me quickly,” said Turner. “So I ran onto the grass next to Widener and this green truck drove past me.”
Although she was physically unharmed, Turner said she was “shocked” by the event.
Alexandria R. King ’24 said she was walking down Massachusetts Avenue when she heard a loud clang across the street. King remembered seeing a truck in the yard.
“I was like, ‘Well, that’s strange, cars shouldn’t be over there,'” she said.
King said she went into the courtyard to assess the situation and noticed that a bollard had been “ripped out of the ground” on one of the gates in the courtyard.
“Within a minute, [Harvard University Police Department] stops and you can see the truck in the corner where Lamont and Wigglesworth meet, it’s just an empty truck, ”King said.
King said she saw a HUPD officer run up Lamont stairs and chase the driver who escaped from the vehicle.
Catalano wrote in a statement emailed that several HUPD officials reacted to the scene after receiving calls around 9:10 p.m.
“Upon arrival, the officers discovered a pickup truck with the door open. Several witnesses referred officers to an unidentified man who fled the scene, ”wrote Catalano. “Officials tracked the person and eventually stopped them from making a field stop.”
The driver, who is not affiliated with Harvard, has been arrested for trespassing and “multiple traffic offenses,” Catalano added. He will be charged on Friday.
Both Turner and King said they feared the event could be related to bomb threats reported last week to other Ivy League institutions such as Yale, Brown, Columbia and Cornell. Several buildings at all four schools were evacuated and campuses eventually found the threats unfounded.
“When the guy opened his car door and started getting out, I started running,” said Turner. “I didn’t know it was a drunk driver. Now I know that, but I didn’t know if it would be an active Sagittarius or someone else. So when I felt that everyone around me was fine, it was time for me to leave this area. “
University spokesman Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement emailed Tuesday that the university and HUPD continue to “monitor the situation” regarding bomb threats in other schools.
—Raquel Coronell Uribe representative can be reached at raquel.coronelluribe@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @ raquelco15.
