Assaulted Man Claims Harvard Affiliation

A man identifying himself as a Harvard faculty member was brutally beaten last week in front of William James Hall, according to Harvard and Cambridge police.

Ed Gillen, who is not listed as a faculty or staff member in Harvard's 1993 telephone directory and does not have a phone listing with University information, sustained a compound fracture on his left arm, a broken wrist, broken thumb and bruises and lacerations on his face, Harvard and Cambridge police said.

"He said he had no feeling in his hands or arms," said Robert Kotowski, one of the Harvard officers who responded to the incident.

According to Harvard police, who first responded to the incident at 1:15 a.m. last Thursday, two six-foot tall white youths attacked Gillen, who was escorting an unidentified woman to her home. The woman was unharmed, police said.

Officers said Gillen did not call Harvard police until 30 minutes after the incident. The call was placed from 52 Irving St. in Cambridge, police said. Gillen is not among the 15 residents listed as living in the apartments at 52 Irving St.

Officer Richard Sevieri of the Cambridge police department said no arrests have been made in the case. A search of the area around William James Hall turned up nothing immediately after the incident, Harvard police said.

Sevieri declined to disclose Gillen's address. There is no telephone listing for Ed Gillen in Cambridge or the greater Boston area.

Gillen was transported to an undisclosed area hospital via the Professional Ambulance Company, Sevieri said.