Sharpie shoplifter not so discreet
Police responded to the UofA Bookstore at 5:27 p.m., Oct. 14, regarding an alleged shoplifter in custody.

An employee with bookstore security called police, saying that they had detained a man for shoplifting. Upon arrival, the University of Arizona Police Department made contact with security staff, who said they had witnessed a male take four Sharpie markers from the bookstore.

Police entered the room where they were holding the man and began to ask him questions. He agreed to answer.

The man told the officers that he went to the bookstore with the intention of buying four Sharpie markers he needed for a school project. He walked around the store until he found the four that he needed, but after he saw how expensive they were, he decided not to pay for them because he had already paid at least $300 for required textbooks for school.

He told police that he walked to a different part of the store and placed the markers in his left pants pocket. He then attempted to exit the store, when security confronted him.

Police cited and released the man on charges of shoplifting. He was told he was not allowed back into any of the UA bookstores. The man was also referred to the Dean of Students’ office. The stolen merchandise was valued at $9.09.

Ex-Wildcat employee swindles free tickets
A man was warned by police after misrepresenting himself as a member of the Arizona Daily Wildcat staff on Oct. 14.

A current member of the Daily Wildcat contacted police to report an ex-employee who no longer worked at the paper, but was acting as an active journalist for the paper to get into concerts.

The man was fired from the staff in August. The current employee told officers that the man was misrepresenting himself to musical venues in hopes of obtaining free tickets, backstage passes and a photo pass. The employee told officers that she did not want to prosecute, but wanted the incident recorded and asked the police to contact the man to tell him to stop or face future charges.

Police contacted the man. He admitted that he had misrepresented himself as an active member of the Wildcat staff. He told officers that he would no longer do so.

No charges were filed.

ROTC student caught using fake parking permit
A man was cited and released at 1 p.m. Oct. 14 after he allegedly used a fake parking permit.

Police responded to a call from the UA Parking and Transportation Services office in reference to a man with a fake parking permit.

Upon arrival, police made contact with a man dressed in an Air Force ROTC uniform, who was sitting in a chair.

Police spoke to the customer relations manager with PTS. She told them that the man was in possession of a fake or altered “”South of Sixth”” parking pass. The manager gave officers the actual permit holder’s information, permit number and contact information. Police were then shown the permit, which appeared to be a colored photocopy with the number “”3″” changed to an “”8″” with a black marker.

The man provided police with identification while they questioned him. He told officers that his roommate, a UA nursing student, was the owner of the original permit. He said he had photocopied it and changed the number to hide that there were two permits with the same number.

The man claimed full responsibility and denied that his roommate had conspired to make the fake permit. He would not say whether his roommate knew he had done it. He told officers that he comes to the UA on Tuesdays to attend an ROTC class from 11 a.m. to noon and used the permit to park then.

He said that he made the fake permit at the beginning of the semester and has been using it since. The man told officers that he knew the use of a permit required payment, and had found his vehicle booted and with a parking ticket when he returned from class that day.

The man was cited and released for criminal theft. A message was left with the woman who owned the original permit, although there was no response.

Gun reported in dorm; none found
Police responded to Cochise Residence Hall after a student reported having seen a man carry a gun into the dorm at 9 p.m. Oct. 15.

When they arrived, police made contact with a resident assistant from the dorm. The RA told officers that a student came to him, saying that while he was studying in the lobby, he noticed a man walk by, closely followed by another man.

The student told police that he saw what he believed to be a gun in the fist man’s right hand. The student could not give a description of the men, but said that the item “”looked like a gun, but (he) could be wrong.””

The student also told police that both men walked through the lobby and up the west side stairs without stopping.

The student recognized the man who reportedly held the gun as someone who lived in the dorm, but did not know his last name or what room. Police then made contact with the man.

The man told officers that he had been inside the dorm all night and did not know anything about a gun. Police asked him to step out of his room while the student looked around a corner and identified him as the man he had seen in the lobby earlier.

The man was alone in his room and consented to a search of himself and his room. No illegal items were found. He told officers that he had been in several rooms that night and thought he may have walked through the lobby, but had not been with anyone specifically.

Police made contact with several other students in nearby rooms, and each stated that they had no knowledge of anyone having a gun.

No evidence of a gun was discovered and no charges were made.