A man, who was previously warned he may be arrested if he trespassed Boston University property, was arrested at the Questrom School of Business Thursday.
Richard Pien was arrested shortly before noon for being on BU property, according to BU Spokesperson Colin Riley. Pien is not a BU professor and has no affiliation with the University.
“He was warned off BU property previously and despite the warning he returned and came into BU property,” Riley wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press. “We’ve had prior complaints (not today) that he harassed students.”
Pien previously claimed to be connected to another university and politicians, which turned out to be false, Riley wrote.
Jonathan, a junior in Questrom, was leaving a meeting inside the building and walking down the main staircase when he saw police cars parked out front.
Jonathan saw Pien and three police officers coming out of the elevators on the first floor. Two officers were holding Pien’s handcuffed arms, and another officer was walking behind. Pien was escorted into a police car.
“I thought he might have been a professor because he was in a nice enough suit that he looked professional,” Jonathan said.
According to Jonathan, Pien appeared to be around 40 to 50 years old.
The scene was calm according to witnesses, and Pien did not appear to resist arrest.
“It honestly seemed like something really minor until I saw the handcuffs as additional restraint because there was no fighting back, like he just went with the officers,” Jonathan said.
Lena Jack, a junior in Questrom who also witnessed the arrest, said Pein “didn’t look too shaken up or resistant.”
Jack said BU security staff was also on the scene.
“I was just kind of confused and surprised to be seeing that in the middle of Questrom,” Jack said. “I had never seen something like that before.”
The case will be referred to Roxbury District Court, according to Riley.
