A student was arrested and charged with felony possession of more than 500 pills of ecstasy with intent to distribute Tuesday after a University Police raid in Fulbright Hall, according to Metropolitan Police.
Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Tony O’Leary identified the suspect as 19-year-old Christopher Schrader, who was arraigned at D.C. Superior Court Wednesday. O’Leary said University Police also recovered quantities of hashish and a “small amount” of marijuana in the student’s possession.
The arrest came following an afternoon raid of two rooms on the second floor of Fulbright Hall.
University Police Director Dolores Stafford declined to comment on the searches – including the type or amount of drugs recovered or status of any students whose rooms were searched – citing ongoing investigations.
A Fulbright resident who wished to remain anonymous said Schrader ordered the pills through the mail, adding that a postal worker may have tipped off authorities.
The student also said Schrader’s room had been searched for drugs by UPD two weeks before Tuesday’s raid.
Sophomore Lindsay Hamilton, who lives on Schrader’s floor, said she saw two UPD officers and at least one member of the Community Living and Learning Center staff standing in Schrader’s room when she returned from classes at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. She said officers left the room about 15 minutes later.
Hamilton said the UPD officers left the room carrying at least two evidence bags filled with two to three prescription pill bottles.
She said UPD officers then went to a room at the end of the hall to perform a similar search.
A resident of the second room searched, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the officers acted hostile and never explained why his room was being targeted.
“There were three officers and two University people in my room, but there were more than that in the other one. They wouldn’t let you say anything, not even go to the bathroom. It was like no human rights. They were there for about an hour,” the student said.
The student also said officers took a bottle of “essential” prescription pills and have not returned them.
Sophomore Laura Moissev, a member of the Hatchet Web staff, said she saw a guard positioned at the front desk of Fulbright during the raid. The desk is usually staffed by students, building residents said.
Hamilton’s roommate, sophomore Denise Schroeder, said she did not know the residents in either of the rooms on her floor.
“I didn’t know the guy who was arrested, and I hadn’t heard anything about ecstasy,” Schroeder said.
–Russ Rizzo contributed to this report.
