Former CCSU Student in Ninja Costume Incident Pleads Not Guilty

The former CCSU student whose Halloween costume sparked a campus-wide emergency and lockdown appeared in court today and entered a not guilty plea.

David Kyem, 21, was a senior at the school when the incident happened. He was arraigned today in Superior Court on breach of peace and criminal trespassing charges.

On Nov. 4, 62 New Britain police officers were dispatched to CCSU when students became alarmed after seeing Kyem in camouflage pants, knee pads, a dark hood, goggles a face mask, a ballistic vest, plastic samurai sword and a BB gun.

Police have asked Kyem's family to pay $13,000 for the department's emergency response to cover overtime, comp time, straight time and the criminal investigation.

Kyem, who is no longer a student, was arrested twice in the days following the incident.

He was originally charged with breach of peace. The next day, he returned to campus after being told not to and was charged with criminal trespass, police said. 

His father, Peter Kyem, is a geography professor at the university.

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