BELCHERTOWN — One of seven University of Massachusetts students arrested in the wake of a post-Super Bowl riot in the Southwest Residential Area of the flagship campus will serve four months of probation after appearing in Eastern Hampshire District Court Thursday.
A charge of disorderly conduct against Marc A. Griffiths, 21, of West Brookfield, is set to be dismissed in July pending Griffiths’ compliance with several conditions imposed by the court in addition to the probation.
Griffiths was charged with disorderly conduct on the evening of Feb. 12 after officers said they saw him pick up a road flare and throw it toward officers, endangering their lives and “provoking others in area.”
Judge Michele Ouimet-Rooke ruled the case will be continued without a finding of guilt and ordered Griffiths to complete the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students program at UMass as well as four months of probation. The continuance means that if Griffiths successfully meets all imposed conditions the case will be dismissed.
The sentence was an agreed-upon recommendation between Griffiths and a prosecutor with the Northwestern district attorney’s office. Griffiths represented himself.
According to police reports, between 800 and 1,000 students gathered in the area outside the Berkshire Dining Commons around 10:15 p.m. after the New England Patriots’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
After multiple orders to disperse, police in riot gear formed a line to push back the crowd, and used pepper spray to clear the area. Vandalism, mostly to residence halls and bathrooms, caused an estimated $2,685 in damages, according to the university.
In February, UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski said that “It was a difficult and a very disappointing night,” adding that other Super Bowl Sundays in recent years have been “fairly uneventful.”
The other six UMass students who were arrested in connection to the riot are all due to appear in Eastern Hampshire District Court over the next several weeks.