After a long night of studying or extracurricular activities, college students can get hungry.
For three nights in a row, some students at Notre Dame de Namur University craved the unique combination of sushi, candy and Gatorade — the only problem was that the locked doors of the dining hall separated them from their feast.
So they used their enterprising young minds and allegedly found a way in. Their munchies, however, rewarded them with a night in the county jail.
Four were arrested early Tuesday morning after breaking in to the school's dining hall, according to Belmont police. Students Owen Williams, Wesley Vandenbrink and Joel Tromburg, all 19, were charged with felony burglary and conspiracy, as was 22-year-old former student Peter Visalli.
The students allegedly climbed in through an open ventilation window over a bathroom to enter the dining hall. But they were foiled by a locked bathroom door and one of them was trapped.
Vandenbrink and Tromburg allegedly waited to be let in but were apprehended and detained by the school's public safety officers.
Belmont police responded to a call at 2:45 a.m. and took the four to San Mateo County Jail in Redwood City, where they spent the night.
On Tuesday, the university dropped the charges against them and they were released. The three students, who play on the school's lacrosse team, were suspended from the school and a disciplinary hearing is expected in January.
Late Tuesday night university President Jack Oblak declined to comment on why the charges were dropped.
Two of the students admitted to being involved in similar burglaries of the dining hall on Saturday and Sunday nights, Belmont police Sgt. Robin Pitts said.
A Notre Dame employee said some of the students rooms had candy, Gatorade and empty sushi containers taken from the dining hall.
Earlier this month three false fire alarms pulled in student dormitories in one night, prompting a community meeting afterwards, the Argonaut student newspaper reported.
Following the meeting, another alarm was pulled.
Oblak said the university takes the false alarms seriously.
"It is not something to be taken lightly," he said.
Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.
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