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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Police Beat 1/30/2019: Caught in the Act

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Courtesy UAPD

University of Arizona Police Department officers on the UA campus. 

Act Natural

A University of Arizona Police department officer caught an aspiring actor in the act of smoking marijuana on campus near the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center on Jan. 16 around 12:15 a.m.

The officer was patrolling the area when he noticed a dark-colored car in a loading zone near the building. According to the police report, various items were scattered on the roof and hood of the car. A man was sitting in the driver’s seat without the engine running.

Parking his patrol car, the officer walked up to the car and tapped on the driver’s side window, asking the man to roll down the window so they could talk. The man agreed to roll down the window, but did not do so. 

The officer noted in the police report that the man looked nervous. He began to squirm in his seat and made the sign of the cross with his hands.

Again, the officer asked the man to roll down the window or open the door. This time, the man opened his door slowly.

After the door opened, the officer was reportedly “overwhelmed with the odor of fresh marijuana.”

The man then tried to exit the vehicle and show him his identification, but the officer asked him to stay seated.

The man then began to explain to the officer that he was a former student of the university, but now he was chasing his dreams of becoming an actor and director.

He said that he had a fondness for architecture and liked to come to campus at night to come up with ideas for potential acting roles.

          RELATED: Police Beat 1/23/2019: Half Court Shot

The officer inquired into the the distinct smell of marijuana emanating from the car.

The man admitted he had drugs in his vehicle. He removed a large plastic bag filled with marijuana from under his seat and a smaller one from under the passenger seat. The man also clarified that he did not have a medical marijuana card.

A second officer arrived and watched the man as the first officer searched the car and found a metal grinder with marijuana in the car’s cup holder and a glass pipe with residue on it.

The first officer cited the man for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also told the man that a failure to appear in court would likely result in a warrant for his arrest.

The man said that he intended to appear in court.

You Booze You Lose

A drunken bar meetup led to a switch-a-roo, a suspected swindle and a cell phone that remained missing even after the man contacted the UAPD for help on Jan. 12.

A UAPD officer responded to a call from the man involved, a UA student, who initially called to report his stolen cell phone and told him the tale of his intoxicated adventure.

According to the man, he was drinking at Illegal Pete’s on the night on Jan. 15 when he met a woman, also a UA student. The two left the restaurant and returned to his room in Colonia de la Paz Residence Hall.

They were only in his room for a brief time before she left. The man described her departure as having a “sense of urgency” to it. She even left her sweatshirt in the room.

About 30 minutes after the woman had gone, the man realized that his iPhone was missing. The man suspected that the woman was the one who stole his phone.

          RELATED: Police Beat 1/16/2019: Charges of the Night Brigade

The man proceeded to ping his phone at around 11 a.m. on Jan. 16 and it showed up as being somewhere near the corner of University Boulevard and Tyndall Avenue, which are the cross streets of Illegal Pete’s.

The man did not have the woman’s number, but he did have a picture of her from her driver’s license, which he showed the officer.

According to the student, his friend had the woman’s license because she left it at Illegal Pete’s after the man and woman left that night.

The officer retrieved the wallet from the friend and used the information on it to look up her phone number and call the woman.

The woman told the officer that she was drunk that night and had gone to his room to hook up. She then shortly changed her mind. When she left the man’s room, she took Safe Ride home; however, she had forgotten her shirt, sweatshirt and glasses in his room.

She clarified that all activities that night had been consensual, but she had returned to her room without a shirt. 

She stated that she had not taken the man’s phone. She also said that she worked that morning far from campus. 

The officer then checked back in with the man and told him to see whether or not his phone was still at Illegal Pete’s, as it was not in his room.

When the officer asked if he had been drunk last night, the man replied, “Yes, I got pissed.” The officer noted that the man was from Australia.

The man and woman agreed to retrace their steps from that night to try to locate his phone.


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