Villanova students held in Linc prank
An unbolted seat and a five-foot sign. That was the loot taken from Lincoln Financial Field early yesterday by a band of Villanova University students in an apparent college prank, according to Philadelphia police.
An unbolted seat and a five-foot sign. That was the loot taken from Lincoln Financial Field early yesterday by a band of Villanova University students in an apparent college prank, according to Philadelphia police.
The group - authorities were not sure how many were involved - entered the football stadium in the dead of night, unbolted Seat 1 from Row 30 in Section 108, and removed a sign from a souvenir stand, police said.
About 3 a.m., stadium security staff noticed the students on surveillance cameras and called police, said Lt. David Bellamy of South Detectives.
The students scooted when they figured the jig was up, but security guards captured one and police rounded up four more, Bellamy said. Several others apparently escaped, he added.
Then police found the spoils:
The seat, with an Eagles logo on the back, was resting on a wall outside the stadium.
Next to the seat, a metal-pipe barricade leaned against a wall, suggesting the students had used it to climb into the stadium, police said.
The sign was in a black 2000 BMW X5 sport-utility vehicle in a back parking lot. It was unclear yesterday who owned the SUV.
No other damage was reported, Bellamy said. He said the five had appeared to be sober.
In police custody yesterday were William Clarke, 19, of Short Hills, N.J.; Taylor Halstead, 19, of Manchester, Mass.; Dylan Carroll, 18, of Pelham, N.Y.; Mark Ioannidis, 18, of Brookhaven; and Daniel Papa of Andover, Md.
All are freshmen, and all were charged with burglary, criminal conspiracy, criminal trespass, and related counts.
Jonathan Gust, a spokesman for the university, confirmed that the suspects were Villanova students. He declined to say whether they belonged to a fraternity or to speculate on a motive.
Efforts were made to reach the parents of the five yesterday. Carroll's father, Thomas, said he didn't know about his son's arrest. He acknowledged that his son had been pledging a fraternity, but said he didn't know which one.
"There's a lot of secrecy about that," he said.
University officials issued a statement yesterday that read in part: "If these students were involved in misconduct, we are deeply disappointed in their behavior and poor judgment."
Officials said the university had begun a review to determine whether the student code of conduct had been violated.
Inquirer staff writers Bonnie Cook and Susan Snyder contributed to this article.
