Three Quinnipiac students arrested in threats

The New Haven Register
One charged with hate crime, held on $100,000 bail
Thursday, October 30, 2008 5:12 AM EDT
By Ed Stannard, Register Metro Editor

HAMDEN — Police have arrested three Quinnipiac University students for allegedly making threatening phone calls, including a freshman who has been charged with a hate crime, according to Capt. Ronald Smith.
Charles Merritt, 18, of Clifton, Maine, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly making threatening and harassing telephone calls to three black basketball players on Monday, Smith said. Merritt is a roommate of two of the athletes and knows the third, Smith said.
Merritt was charged with three counts each of intimidation based on bigotry and bias, first-degree harassment and disorderly conduct. Smith said the threats rose to the level of a hate crime because they involved the victims’ ethnicity.
Just before midnight Tuesday, police arrested Emily Loschiavo, 19, of West Newbury, Vt., and Courtney Stellwag, 19, of Newburgh, N.Y. They were both charged with first-degree harassment, conspiracy to commit first-degree harassment and disorderly conduct.
According to Smith, two friends of the women’s intended victim answered the telephone in a Quinnipiac dorm room and were threatened with bodily harm. The intended victim, a resident assistant, was not at home at the time, he said. Smith said he did not know the race of the R.A.Quinnipiac security, assisted by Hamden police, determined who allegedly made the threatening telephone call.Quinnipiac’s administration turned the case over to police Monday. They followed the discovery of racially bigoted words written outside dorm rooms and on a board outside the victims’ dorm.According to a statement by Quinnipiac President John L. Lahey, all three were expelled from the university."All of us are grateful for the work of the Hamden Police Department which resulted in these arrests," Lahey said. "While they are significant achievements, the investigation continues in connection with the recent hate speech/crimes. I also want to extend my appreciation for the excellent police work by our own security officers."I cannot state strongly enough that this university has absolutely no tolerance for acts of this kind and will do everything in its power to prevent them."Merritt, who was being held at police headquarters on $100,000 bail, is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Meriden on Nov. 6. Stellwag and Loschiavo were released after posting $2,500 bail. They are scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 12. [To read the entire story, go to: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/10/30/blogs/doc4908d3abaee45707759776.txt]