Police Nab Knife-Flailing Man in Science Center

Police arrested a man waving a knife in the Science Center early Friday afternoon and charged him with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

When Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) officers arrived at the scene at approximately 1:30 p.m. Friday, they found the man, James M. Fink, on the handicap ramp with a cell phone in one hand and a folding knife in the other, according to HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano. His speech was incoherent and he appeared to be intoxicated, Catalano said.

Police placed Fink, 25, of Quincy, Mass. under arrest shortly thereafter. Fink is not a Harvard affiliate. No one was hurt or threatened in the incident, according to Catalano.

Rafael F. Garcia ’09 said that he noticed Fink’s behavior as he and a friend were walking down the ramp out of the Science Center from their 12 p.m. class, at approximately 1:05 p.m. Garcia said that he saw Fink “mumbling on his cell phone” and “stumbling over himself.”

Garcia said that he saw an open pocketknife in Fink’s hand and “made a concerted effort” to distance himself from Fink as he exited the building. Once outside, Garcia said, he and his friend decided to call the police. Two police cars pulled up to the Science Center “literally within a minute,” Garcia said, and officers stormed through the front door.

When Garcia reentered the building about a minute later Garcia said that Fink was lying face down on the floor in handcuffs.

“I was really impressed by the reaction of HUPD,” Garcia said. “This was the first time I had ever reported something like this and within a minute they were on the scene in full force. It was really reassuring.”

Another witness to the incident, Brandon D. Bartch ’08, said that he was sitting at the Greenhouse Café when the police apprehended Fink. Bartch said that he first noticed Fink standing near the rail of the ramp “looking fairly out of it.” He described Fink as slightly overweight with a shaven head, wearing a green jacket.

Bartch said that he then witnessed a police officer yelling at Fink to drop the knife he was holding. According to Bartch, Fink did not comply with the officer’s order the first time, and the officer had to ask him again.

Bartch said Fink was then made to remove everything from his pockets and put it on the ground, including the knife. Fink was then forced to the ground by the officers and arrested.

Fink appeared “clearly drugged out,” Bartch said.

Another witness, Joseph W. Stanley ’09, said that he when he walked by, he saw Fink and thought there was “clearly something wrong” with him.

“He [Fink] had a knife out and was spinning it, kind of playing with it, though not in a menacing way,” Stanley said.

Brandon P. Geller ’08 was sitting at the benches near the window in the science center when he heard “wild, unintelligible” talking coming from Fink’s direction.

Geller said he was walking over to the edge of the Greenhouse Café to check a problem set when he heard the words “put the knife down.”

He looked over in Fink’s direction to see a policeman standing three to four feet away from Fink as Fink dropped the knife on the ground. Geller said that as Fink started to reach for the knife, the officer forced him to the ground—and seconds later three other officers joined in to help.

Once Fink was on the ground, Geller said that the officers took turns holding him as they spoke with Greenhouse Café workers about another suspect who was allegedly in the area and got away.

—Check thecrimson.com throughout the weekend for updates.

—Staff writer Jamison A. Hill can be reached at jahill@fas.harvard.edu.