Two Northeastern University rowers pled not guilty yesterday to charges in connection with the alleged assault of Harvard heavyweight rower Malcolm F. Howard ’05.

Sophomore Brogan Graham is accused of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon—the ground—and sophomore Michael Tripician has been charged with the larceny of Howard’s sunglasses.

Graham and Tripician admitted their involvement in the incident to police, according to a Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) report made public yesterday.

Graham told police he threw Howard to the ground while Howard pursued Tripician, who had just stolen his sunglasses, the report says.

The three were leaving a Habitat for Humanity charity auction held at Weld Boathouse—at the corner of Memorial Drive and JFK Street—on the evening of Saturday, March 8.

Members of both the Harvard and Northeastern crew teams attended the event.

Somewhere between 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., as Howard descended the boathouse stairs, Tripician grabbed Howard’s sunglasses—gold men’s Dyce shades worth about $10—from his head and sprinted onto the Memorial Drive sidewalk, according to the report.

As he was pursued by Howard, the report says, Tripician said he heard teammate and sophomore Daniel O’Shaughnessy yell after him to return the sunglasses.

Tripician told police officers that he turned around and saw Graham hit Howard, whose body slammed into the ground with a noise so loud that it sounded like a gun shot. Tripician then called 911.

According to the report, Graham told police he had pursued Howard and threw his body into him, causing Howard to fall to the ground. Howard sustained “serious facial injuries soaked in blood,” according to HUPD Officer Julie Davie’s statement.

Graham said he ran all the way to Harvard Square, where he boarded an inbound T train and met friends at the Park Street station.

O’Shaughnessy and Northeastern student Joseph “Yossi” Levin witnessed the incident along with four Harvard students, the report says.

When police and ambulances arrived at the scene, O’Shaughnessy told Davie that he and other rowers from both Harvard and Northeastern had not arrived until a few minutes after the incident, according to the report. He told Davie that after investigating, he had told Tripician to leave and that he did not have contact information for him.

According to Harvard rower William A. Ulrich ’05, O’Shaughnessy also told an officer that Howard had been hit by a car.

According to the police report, O’Shaughnessy later changed his story, explaining to police that he had panicked out of a desire to avoid incriminating his friends.