Fire extinguisher prank gets out of hand

Two male UA students sprayed a fire extinguisher in an Alpha Phi sorority house bathroom before fleeing the scene at 2:50 a.m. on Nov. 11. University of Arizona Police Department officers responded in reference to a fire alarm, which the sorority’s housemother said was set off by a fire extinguisher. A check of the house revealed no fire, but when they entered the bathroom, the officers saw that the extinguisher’s powdery contents covered the entire room.

Due to the fire alarm, house members were gathered outside. Officers had them come back inside and asked them to meet in a common room for questioning. One member, who was noticeably distressed and crying, approached the housemother to speak with her. The woman seemed to know about the incident, and said that two men had entered the bathroom, held the door shut, used the fire extinguisher against house members’ requests, then left on foot. The upset woman was reluctant to provide details about the suspects, and officers said it was clear she knew the men and didn’t want them to get in trouble.

Officers then asked house members in the common room if anyone could tell them more about the men, and learned they were two UA men’s swimming team athletes. A house member was able to provide a phone number for one of the two men, so police left a message for him. Officers ran a records check on the other man and left him a voicemail as well. Additionally, the check showed an outstanding arrest warrant from Tucson Police Department related to liquor violations.

The officers returned to the UAPD main station, submitted photos of the bathroom into property and evidence, and then referred the two students to the dean of student’s office. They also confirmed that the students were athletes.

The following afternoon, police spoke with the housemother again, who said two men had come and cleaned up the damage and apologized.

Infiniti loses its wheels

A UAPD officer went to Main Gate Parking Garage in reference to a car with no wheels sitting on concrete blocks at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 11. When police arrived, they saw a silver Infiniti propped up on concrete blocks and missing all four wheels on the second floor of the garage. Since no one was at the scene, police ran a records check on the license plate and found a phone number to contact the owner of the vehicle.

They then contacted him and asked if his Infiniti should have tires. The man responded that the car definitely should have wheels.

He had parked his car in the garage before meeting with friends from out of town at 3:15 p.m., adding that he wasn’t comfortable having one of them drive him to the garage since they’d been drinking.

The owner said the incident wasn’t a prank or a fraudulent scheme, because he has few friends in town, and owns everything on the car. He valued the four missing tires at a combined value of $4,500. The man added that he would “absolutely” take part in judicial proceedings if a suspect were found.

Photos of the car were sent to property and evidence. Police also dusted the car in search of fingerprints but found no usable marks.

An empty cigarette box was found near the driver’s side door, and officers requested to have the Arizona Department of Public Safety analyze the box for DNA and fingerprints. There are currently no suspects or witnesses.