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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Police Beat 10/16/2019: The Next Generation

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Courtesy UAPD

University of Arizona Police Department officers on the UA campus. 

Twist and shout

Some people seem to develop completely different personalities when they drink and one University of Arizona student apparently embraced his inner brawlin’ sailor.

A University of Arizona Police Department officer responded to a reported fight brewing at Pueblo de la Cienega Residence Hall at around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 5. 

The officer spoke with a resident assistant who led him to the bottom of a staircase inside the dorm. There, two students were sitting on the steps.

The officer noted that one of the students had a significant amount of blood on his chin, arms, legs and clothes. He began to speak with the student, but found him to be incoherent. 

The student then began to act aggressively, according to the officer’s report. He attempted to stand but immediately lost his balance. The officer instructed him to sit down for his own safety.

Continuing his aggressive behavior, the student started shouting at people nearby. The officer asked bystanders to leave the area and wait in the lobby due to safety concerns.

Another officer arrived to help the first officer try to get the student to cooperate, though he continued to disregard their orders. The officer ultimately handcuffed the man.

RELATED: Police Beat 10/9/2019: What’s in the box?

When emergency medical service workers arrived, they asked the man for his medical information, but he did not appear to want their aid, as he kept pulling away from them, according to the report.

The student then began to yell obscenities and threats at the emergency personnel on scene. The first officer told the student to lower his voice, but the student continued to yell.

The first officer reported that at this point he noticed that the student smelled like alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and swayed when he stood. 

Tucson Fire Department workers arrived on scene and ultimately decided it was best to take the student to the hospital. They attempted to put him on a gurney, but the student did not cooperate and began to kick and scream. The workers eventually got him on.

The officer put a spit sock, a lightweight, translucent hood designed to prevent spit from hitting emergency workers, on the student. 

The student was taken to Banner — University Medical Center, cursing all the way, according to the report.

Later that day, at around 9:30 p.m., the officer returned to follow up with the student. The officer spoke with the student in his room. He admitted that he had drank “a little too much alcohol” that night, approximately seven shots of vodka.

The officer cited the student, who was under 21 years old, with minor in possession in body.

Pushing it

The burglary of a generator at a construction site ended up generating police activity all over campus, from the Main Library to the Honors Village.

UAPD officers responded to the area near Mabel Street and Santa Rita Avenue after receiving a report about two unknown men pushing a generator at around 5 a.m on Oct. 2.

The officer spoke with the reporting party, a UA general maintenance employee, who told them the men had been pushing a large, industrial-level generator on wheels. He suspected they had stolen it from the UA.

A second witness near the Honors Village reported a similar sight, though he told officers one of the men had been pushing the wheeled generator and the other had been walking two bicycles.

One of the officers quickly found the generator sitting on the sidewalk on Drachman Street. He noted that one of the identifying labels looked like it had recently been damaged. An employee associated with the company that manages the generators late confirmed that a generator had been taken from an on-campus construction site.

RELATED: Police Beat 10/2/2019: Vehicular Crime Blotter

A second UAPD officer located a man matching the description of one of the suspects walking up Park Avenue pushing two bicycles. The officer detained and handcuffed the man.

The general maintenance employee positively identified the detained man as one of the men he had seen pushing the generator.

The man said he could not remember where the generator had been taken from, according to the officer who interviewed him. The officer suggested they drive along the route the man thought he took, as it might jog his memory. The man agreed. 

He ultimately said that the other man had taken it from a construction area west of the Main Library. He also denied taking anything himself or knowing his friend was planning to steal the generator.

The second man was found by an officer near Park Avenue and Adams Street. The man admitted to the officer that he and the first man had stolen the generator from the construction site near the library.

The officers spoke with the construction site’s project supervisor, who identified the stolen generator and said that the construction company would press charges for burglary.

The men were arrested, transported to Pima County Jail and booked on charges of third degree burglary.


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