AMHERST – Amherst College Police arrested a man who allegedly broke into rooms inside a dormitory early Monday morning after about an hour earlier entering an unlocked home on South East Street while its residents were asleep.
Ryan Joseph Chase, 22, of North Easton, was arrested at 2:50 a.m. on Kellogg Avenue on three counts of breaking and entering, two counts of larceny from a building and a charge of trespassing after he allegedly got into rooms at Plimpton House on Lessey Street, according to Amherst College Police.
A dispatch report supplied by Amherst Police reports that Chase stole women’s underwear from the dorm rooms he entered.
Chase, who is a student at the University of Massachusetts, also faces a charge from Amherst Police of breaking and entering during the nighttime to commit a felony. That charge, for which he is being summoned to court, is related to his entering a South East Street residence through an unlocked front door at 2:05 a.m. Monday.
Amherst Police Detective Michael Forcum said a homeowner woke up and confronted the intruder and escorted him from the home, at which time Chase fled. Nothing was taken from the residence.
UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski, who confirmed Chase is enrolled at the university, said a protocol is in place for students who get in trouble with the law.
“When notified by an area police department that one of our students is involved with a police matter, that information is forwarded to the dean of students, who looks at the specifics to determine how to proceed,” Blaguszewski said.
Chase’s arrest was the most significant alcohol-related incident during a weekend in which college students returned to the University of Massachusetts and Amherst and Hampshire colleges. Amherst Police responded to 400 calls for service between Friday and Tuesday.
A previous break-in attempt was reported at 1:56 a.m. Saturday by a Spring Street resident, who observed someone trying to get in through the back door. The man fled without entering the home, and was not located.
Much of the Amherst Police work during the weekend involved issuing warnings to minors in possession of alcohol and making people dump alcoholic beverages they carried on the streets.
One 20-year-old woman was arrested for being a minor in possession of alcohol early Saturday, while three other people were summoned to court for liquor law violations in separate incidents early Sunday and Monday mornings.
Officers also checked the IDs of patrons at various bars and restaurants late Saturday night.
A large crowd of revelers gathered at Townehouse Apartments, 50 Meadow St., between 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Forcum said.
While police mostly monitored the area to make sure people did not get out of control, a 22-year-old Danvers man was issued a citation about 8 p.m. for violating the town’s noise bylaw after allowing loud music to play from an unattended speaker. Less than an hour later, another man was issued a warning after he was seen destroying a sofa in the quad and yelling obscenities.
Later, a 21-year-old Amherst man was issued a $300 ticket for possessing an unlicensed keg at Townehouse, Forcum said.
On Sunday night, a 21-year-old Franklin woman and a 21-year-old Hopkinton woman were both issued $300 tickets for violating the town’s noise bylaw after not cooperating with officers in clearing guests from a loud party at their East Pleasant Street home, Forcum said.
More than 800 people were outside a Gilreath Manor residence on Hobart Lane, with one person playing a loud trumpet, later Sunday night. That party broke up when officers arrived.
A 23-year-old Springfield resident will be summoned to court on a charge of disorderly conduct after urinating near the Central Fire Station shortly after midnight Sunday.
And Paul Norman Leblanc, 34, who listed his address as the streets of Amherst, was arrested at 6:50 p.m. Sunday on a charge of disorderly conduct after he was seen urinating in full view of the public near the Jones Library.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
