Charges against Richard Sofield to be dropped

One of the men cited for disorderly conduct in the October 30 confrontation outside the Phi Gamma Delta house that led to a string of bloody assaults will attend a lecture on "disorderly conduct" this weekend instead of having to face criminal charges. Richard Sofield, 28, will travel to Philadelphia tomorrow from his home in Virginia and spend two hours at a "Disorderly Conduct Alternative Program" in the Center City Conference Center, according to his wife, Alice. After completing the program, the disorderly conduct charge will be expunged from his criminal record, and he won't have to appear at a previously scheduled November 21 hearing before a municipal court judge. Although Sofield refused to comment, on the advice of his attorney, his wife said the lecture is normal for "anybody who has no [previous criminal] record and it's just a disorderly conduct or you violate some kind of curfew. It's a standard thing." The lecture's purpose is to teach people cited for disorderly conduct about the law to prevent them from doing it again, according to Patrick O'Neill, director of the Philadelphia Service Institute, which runs the program. "An attorney teaches the act -- the law [suspects are] accused of breaking -- and gives pointers on how to avoid this sort of situation, explains the dangers of having an arrest record and gives some pointers on how to deal with police in emergency situations to avoid this sort of thing in the future," he explained. Sofield -- an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. -- was arrested by University Police in front of the FIJI house on Locust Walk October 30 at around 10:30 p.m., while standing with his friend Warnell "Yode" Owens and brother, College freshman Bill Sofield. According to police accounts, officers approached the three men because they appeared drunk and were loud and rowdy. The confrontation quickly "escalated verbally until there was a lot of yelling and screaming," University Police Detective Commander Tom King explained a few days after the incident. Police cited Richard Sofield at the scene for disorderly conduct, but Owens and Bill Sofield fled inside the FIJI house. Owens, a 26-year-old Harvard University alumnus and former college football player, left the FIJI house through a back door and allegedly assaulted four Penn police officers in three separate incidents before being subdued by police at the intersection of 36th and Walnut streets. Bill Sofield stayed inside the FIJI house until more than 20 officers from at least four police forces arrested him. Accounts differ as to what happened next. While police said Sofield had to be subdued by several officers after resisting arrest, numerous FIJI brothers claim the officers beat the freshman before arresting him. Owens and Bill Sofield still face charges as a result of the incident, which remains under investigation by the Philadelphia and University police departments.

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