*Editor's Note: As of February 18, 2004 all charges against Michael Rechnitz had been dismissed by the court.*
Two Duke seniors, Michael Rechnitz and Edward Hall, were arrested Monday by Durham Police Department officers in an incident stemming from a neighbor's noise complaint.
Police charged Rechnitz, 21, and Hall, 21, both residents of 202 Watts St., with a noise ordinance violation and with resisting a public officer. The Herald-Sun of Durham reported that police arrived at the house with warrants after at least one neighbor complained of loud noise. The two students then allegedly refused to open the door for the officers.
An incident report submitted by a neighbor, who said she wished to remain anonymous, stated that the time of the excessive noise was at 2:13 a.m. According to the report, the neighbor "was awakened by the sound of women squealing, men yelling, horns honking and car doors slamming," although she wrote that some of the honking had come from taxi cabs. She also reported seeing students wrestling, intoxicated, and riding on each others' backs. Allegedly, after the neighbor called 911 to report the noise, she witnessed two naked men run from the back of the house to the front, scurry back and forth, and return to the back of the house.
The neighbor's report stated that two unmarked DPD vehicles, one marked DPD vehicle and two Duke Police vehicles arrived on the scene and caused the party to quickly shut down. Three men allegedly did not make it into the house and remained on the porch; two of those men--Rechnitz and Hall--were arrested, handcuffed and taken away by police cruisers, according to the report. Police officers knocked on the door several times but no one ever answered.
The last police car left at about 3:30 a.m. The last officer's departure was delayed by a 20-minute debate with a man from 203 Watts St. about the law and the right to party.
Bond was set at $1,000 each for Rechnitz and Hall, and they have been given a Nov. 25 court date. Neither could be reached for comment.
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