A Cambridge resident accused of attacking a Harvard School of Education graduate student goes on trial today on charges of civil rights violations and destruction of property.

Rev. Judith B. Howie alleges that Christopher Hassell, who lives on Everett Street near Harvard Law School, hit the car she was driving with a 30-inch stick. Hassell reportedly yelled, "Don't ever drive that close to me, nigger."

Hassell said he would "probably" plead innocent.

Howie, a second-year doctoral candidate at the Education School, has also accused the two Cambridge police officers who responded to her call of "[failing] to engage themselves in a serious response" to the alleged attack.

Howie alleges that the officers, Stephen Ahern and Peter Calnan, neglected to record the presence of two witnesses at the incident. One of the witnesses is Howie's father.

Soon after the incident, Howie filed complaints with the Cambridge Police Department's Internal Affairs Division and with the Cambridge Police Review and Advisory Board.

Howie's complaint accused Officers Calnan and Ahern of "neglect of duty and civil rights violations." She said in an interview this week that she thought that had she been a white woman accusing a Black man, the officers would have acted differently.

In addition, Howie filed charges against a third Cambridge police officer, Frank Pasquarello, to whom she talked when she called the day following the incident to inquire about the progress of her case.

Howie alleges that Pasquarello treated her with indifference and told her that "it is just your word against his."

Shortly after the alleged incident, President Neil L. Rudenstine and Cambridge Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 wrote to Howie to express support for her case.

In addition, both Rudenstine and Reeves contacted the Cambridge Police Commissioner regarding thecase.

"I want you to know that as a member of Citygovernment, I absolutely cringe to think that suchan incident could have occurred in the City ofCambridge," Reeves wrote to Howie, "and furtherthat the official response was so poor."

The Mayor lives in the same apartment buildingas the suspect.

Howie, a resident of Roslindale who has studiedat Harvard for five years, filed the complaintsagainst the officers last September.

The internal investigation cleared Calnan andAhern. Officer Pasquarello's case was classifiedas "inconclusive," meaning that the police couldneither prove nor disprove the charges.

The external investigation conducted by theCambridge Police Review and Advisory Board isstill in progress.