By Ann DeMatteo and Mark Zaretsky
Journal Register News Service

HAMDEN — In a bizarre twist to an already disturbing story, a Quinnipiac University basketball player who allegedly was a target of a hate crime last month was arrested Friday for an alleged hate crime himself.

Harold Washington, 18, one of three alleged victims of the previous incident, was arrested for allegedly using the Facebook social networking site as a tool to anonymously racially harass one of his fellow African-American victims, said Police Chief Thomas J. Wydra.

Washington, who attended Quinnnipiac on a basketball scholarship, has been expelled, university President John L. Lahey said Friday night.

While Wydra acknowledged Washington was a victim in the first incident, "his response was not to the person harassing him. His response was to a fellow victim, and that’s what’s disturbing to us.

"There’s absolutely no room in our society for these types of crimes," he said.

Lahey reiterated "that we have absolutely no tolerance for acts of this kind," and said, "We must remain steadfast in doing all we can to prevent them."

Washington was a communications major and a 6-foot, 2-inch guard on the basketball team. He was charged with third-degree intimidation based on bigotry and bias, second-degree harassment and second-degree breach of peace, police said.

Washington, of Brandywine, Md., had been expected to contribute immediately for the Bobcat’s team, which opened its season Friday night at the University of Hartford. Washington was not with the team Friday night.

On Nov. 5, police met with Washington regarding his harassment complaint, police Capt. Ronald Smith said. Washington was targeted with threatening and racially motivated telephone calls, a case for which former Quinnipiac student Charles Merritt was arrested. Merritt — who has since been expelled — was Washington’s roommate. He allegedly harassed Washington and two other students, Smith said.

During that investigation, one of the other victims told detectives that someone had accessed his Facebook home page and made threatening and racial comments. Information police obtained during an extensive investigation, which included interviews and a search warrant, led officers to apply for an arrest warrant for Washington, Smith said.

The motivation is "something we’re looking into," Smith said. He called the turn in the case "extremely unusual" and "bizarre" and said, "It’s an unfortunate incident for Quinnipiac University."

Right now police believe they’ve arrested everyone responsible for the hate acts, Smith said.

"In a general sense, it was good detective work by our people," said Chief Wydra. "This was a very detailed process for us to investigate this ... We executed search warrants to retrieve information" from computer hard drives, he said.

"Obviously, these series of events are something else," said Wydra, who praised Quinnipiac officials for their handling of the incidents.

"Quinnipiac University, since the time that these events began to be investigated, has been great in cooperating with us and assisting us," Wydra said.

Washington turned himself in and was released on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Meriden Nov. 28.

Washington’s cousin, Jeff Green, plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA.

Merritt, a 18-year-old freshman from Clifton, Maine, was arrested late last month, then expelled from the university. He was charged with three counts each of intimidation based on bigotry and bias, first-degree harassment and disorderly conduct.

Police said he made threatening phone calls to three black basketball players, two of whom were his roommates. The hate crime law applies when another crime is committed based on the victim’s "race, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression."

Quinnipiac officials confirmed last month that the three male basketball players were moved to off-campus housing after the threats.

Lahey said the investigation is ongoing. He asked anyone who might have information to contact Quinnipiac security at 203-582-8782 or call Quinnipiac’s new anonymous tip-line at 203-582-3008.