Almost perfect, but not quite
Wasn’t that pillow a bit to the right? It was not the work of a thief in the night. And yet it still gave two students quite the fright.
Two University of Arizona Police Department officers arrived at Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall after getting a call about a suspicious occurrence in a dorm room on Aug. 21 at around 11:30 p.m. When the officers arrived, the resident assistant led them to the students’ room.
The students told them when they had left their room at around 4:30 p.m. that afternoon, they had been sure to lock the door. When one of them returned at around 8:45 p.m. that evening, the door was locked, just as she had left it.
The room, however, was not.
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As she entered the room, the first student noticed that her pillows had been moved and placed in a stack on top of her bed. A few other belongings were also in new locations around the room.
The second student described similar changes. She also suspected that someone had gone through a bag she kept her valuables in.
Despite the strange arrangements, neither student reported anything stolen.
Not in Kansas anymore
Many new students face hurdles when coming to college. But sometimes failing to get over those hurdles, both literal and metaphorical, can get students in trouble with the law.
A UAPD officer was patrolling the area near the Cherry Avenue Garage when he spotted two students walking toward a short wall in the garage on Aug. 25 at around 2 a.m.
According to the officer, the first student quickly made it over the wall with ease. The second student had a harder time getting over the wall and eventually fell over it. During the fall, her lanyard broke and her keys fell into the garage.
The officer walked over, handed over the keys and saw the second student struggling to stand. Eventually she got to her feet and the students walked off toward the Highland District. The officer called after them, but they did not respond.
Additional officers arrived to assist and the two eventually spoke with the students near Colonia de la Paz Residence Hall.
The second student, the one who had fallen, had bloodshot eyes, smelled like alcohol and slurred her speech, according to the officers. She had also been stumbling on the walk over and continued to struggle to maintain her balance during her conversation with the officers until she was told to sit down.
Paramedics also arrived on the scene, after an officer called them to check on the second student and quickly cleared her.
The officers also spoke with the first student, who told them that she had made a mistake and apologized for it. She said that it was her first time away from home and was a good student.
She and the other student had been at an off-campus party, where they had been drinking. While walking back, they went through the garage where the officer eventually saw them.
The first student said two other friends had been with them. She refused to name them, though did say she was upset that they had “ditched” her.
The officer reported that throughout their conversation, the first student spoke with slightly slurred speech and smelled like alcohol.
The first student was placed in the UA Diversion program and the second student was cited and released for minor in possession.
Bikes and yikes!
Let’s face it, there is no way to come onto campus looking at bikes and not appear suspicious. However, it doesn’t help when a person admits to law enforcement officers that the other reason he was on campus was to ogle college students.
Two UAPD officers were en route to a potential bike theft near Steward Observatory when they got word of another bike theft occurring nearby.
The officers drove to the area near Speedway Boulevard and Mountain Avenue where they spotted two men, both pushing motorized bicycles. According to the officers, one of the men matched the description of the suspected bike thief from the first call.
The men agreed to speak with the officers. When asked, both men said that they were not on campus to steal bikes. A records check revealed that the first man, the one who matched the previous description, has two warrants out from the Tucson Police Department. The officers handcuffed him.
The first man said that he and the second man had been at UA looking at bicycles as well as “enjoying the scenery” of sorority members back on campus. One of the officers asked if he had attempted to cut a bike lock. The first man called upon his right to remain silent.
The second man told officers that he was not there to steal, that he had no tools for the job in the bag he was carrying and that he would not allow them to search his bag. He was let go and left the scene with both bicycles.
After the second man left, officers took the first man to Pima County Jail where he was booked on his outstanding warrants.
En garde!
It is the responsibility of this Police Beat writer to inform readers that a UAPD officer found a rusty sword on the top floor of the Second Street Parking Garage on Aug. 25 at approximately 8 a.m.
The officer described the sword, which he found under a utility box, as over three feet long, made of brass and overall similar in appearance to a “Civil War-era cavalry saber.”
No one has come forward to claim the sword.
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