Held Hostage

Rip Marini, the final hostage released from Canisius Hall Tuesday night, described his captor as being determined to gain publicity for his ideas and yet at the same time fearful.

Marini observed that the hostage-taker, 24-year old alumnus Patrick Arbelo of Bridgeport, squeamish at times and almost as frightened as those whom he held hostage. Dr. Elizabeth Dreyer of the religious studies department characterized Arbelo on Wednesday as sometimes “child-like” and a “very disturbed person.”

Dreyer believed that the “chit-chat” of the hostage negotiator and Marini’s effort towards establishing a bond with Arbelo proved to be vital in the safe release of the hostages. Marini did a “wonderful job,” in Dreyer’s opinion, in establishing a relationship with Arbelo.

It appears that it was this bond between Marini and Arbelo that motivated Arbelo to ask that Marini remain after the last group of hostages was released after 9 p.m. “I’m in charge here,” Marini told Dreyer, according to Dreyer. Dreyer was concerned, she said, when she left Marini with Arbelo, but the suspect assured her that Marini would be safe. At 10:10 p.m. Marini was released.

However, the threat was not over, according to police and university officials. Though all the hostages were released, law enforcement officials still had reason to believe that they could be dealing with a potential bomb threat, a university official said. It was not until Wednesday morning that an analysis proved that the device, which Arbelo had claimed to be a bomb, was in fact not.

A little after 11 p.m., police officials announced in the Quick Center that the hostage-taker had surrendered and was in police custody. This brought the seven hours of tension on campus to a close.

Sometime around 4 p.m., Arbelo entered Dreyer’s classroom claiming to have a bomb, according to police spokesman Sgt. Gene Palazzolo. Students who were nearby the classroom reported a commotion and unusual behavior.

Erick Rodriguez observed students tossing bags out the windows of the classroom where the crisis was developing. Rodriguez investigated and said that some students whispered to notify university security. Arbelo had taken 23 hostages, including Dreyer.

While observing the situation, Mike O’Donovan, ’02 said that he noticed a commotion evident in the hallway in the second floor of Canisius Hall outside Dreyer’s classroom and thought that he heard doors slamming. Two security guards came to O’Donovan’s classroom and told the students to leave the building immediately. According to Eva Chiundzinski ’03 and Rodriguez Fr. Thomas Regan was on the scene early and pleaded with Arbelo to resolve the situation peacefully.

Mike Lesnik, ’04, a resident of Gonzaga Hall, overheard that Canisius had been evacuated and was one of the many students who watched through the windows. Lesnik said that resident assistants told students to evacuate the building. Authorities took precautions including this evacuation and a perimeter was established.

As the evening progressed, numerous law enforcement agencies arrived on campus. University security, Fairfield police, Connecticut State Police and eventually the FBI responded to the emergency, according to state and university officials.

Throughout much of Tuesday evening, First Selectman Ken Flatto and Selectman Denise Dougiello were monitoring the situation as it unfolded. Flatto voiced concern for the safety of the hostages during the night. Dougiello, a Fairfield alumna, was also concerned and, because of her relationship to the university, she wished that the situation would “come to an end quickly.”

According to Marini and published reports, the alleged suspect’s demand was for an anti-Semitic statement to be read on WCBS radio. Arbelo dictated that he would release a certain number of hostages for each time that the statement was read, according to Marini. Throughout the seven hours of the crisis, Arbelo was convinced to release small groups of hostages until he was left with only Marini as a hostage.

Arbelo was fearful at this point and interested in ending the standoff, according to Marini. Arbelo was arraigned on Wednesday on 28 counts of kidnapping and his bond was set at $ 1 million dollars.