An endship to the friendship

Teamwork makes the scheme work. Two intruders snuck into a student’s room and almost got away with it — until the student woke up.

Two University of Arizona Police Department officers arrived at Coronado Residence Hall at around 11:15 p.m. on April 11. They had received word a student awoke that morning to find two women exiting her room.

The student reported she had no roommate and had not given anyone permission to enter her room that day. She later received an email from the hall’s front desk charging her for a key they gave her to enter the locked room, a key she had not actually requested.

The officers first spoke with the front desk assistant. She told them at around 10 a.m. that morning she gave a key to a woman who she had believed was the student. The imposter had shown a CatCard with a picture that looked similar to the picture of the student in the computer system.

The woman came back about one minute later with both another woman and a suitcase in tow. She returned the key and the pair vanished.

When the real student came down later to ask about the email, the desk assistant realized she was clearly not the same woman who had taken the key.

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The officers then spoke in-person with the student. She told them that, when she awoke, she recognized them as two UA students who were former friends; they recently had a falling out.

She said when she awoke, the women were leaving the room with some of their belongings when the student woke up. None of her possessions had been taken.

Since the woman had not given permission for them to be in the room, the student wanted to press charges for trespassing and identity theft. She later changed her mind, and told the officers she wanted to deal with the issue without pressing criminal charges.

The officers went to Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall to talk with the two women. When they found them, the first woman, the one who claimed to be the student, told the officers she went into the room to retrieve her speaker, which she left in there.

She said she told the student she was coming, though the student had never responded or given permission to enter. She initially followed behind residents in order to get into the building before going to the front desk and pretending to be the student to get a spare key. She admitted what she did was inappropriate. 

The second woman confirmed the first woman’s story. She also said she thought they were all still friends and they often went into each others rooms. 

The officers informed the women some of what they had done constitutes criminal behavior and could have led to their arrest.

The officers filed a Code of Conduct Violation for the first woman and an FYI for the second woman.

Circle not OK

Relaxing on a front porch drinking a beer at the end of a long day is one of life’s simple joys. Unless, of course, it’s someone else’s front porch, and you have no permission to be there. Then, it’s trespassing.

A concerned citizen flagged down a UAPD officer near the intersection of Park Avenue and Speedway Boulevard after spotting a man suspected to be intoxicated shouting near Tyndall Avenue on the night of April 11.

The officer surveyed the area and spotted a man matching the description. The officer noted the man was not actually causing a disturbance or engaging in any other suspected criminal activity.

He tried to speak with the man, who refused and left. The officer watched him enter a Circle K.

Shortly after, a second person, this time a UA student, flagged down the officer. The student told him she and her roommates lived in a nearby house. One of her roommates had just told her about a shirtless, unknown man standing on their porch. She asked the officer to investigate.

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The officer went to the house and saw the same man from earlier, now sitting on the front porch drinking a can of beer. At his feet was an open case of Bud Light.

The officer approached and asked the man if he lived there or had permission to be on the porch. The man answered no to both questions.

Noticing the beer, which the man had not had before, the officer asked where he had gotten the beverage. The man said someone gave it to him.

While in the midst of their conversation, a Circle K clerk came up to the officer and told him the man had shoplifted the beer from the store a few minutes ago. According to the clerk, the man had walked into the store, grabbed a 24-pack of beer from the display case and walked out. Security footage verified this.

The officer handcuffed the man and placed him in his patrol vehicle. He also performed a records check and found the man had a trespass order from all Circle K stores in Tucson, banning him from being on the premise.

The clerk wished to prosecute for both theft and trespassing.

The woman who had flagged down the officer also returned and confirmed it was her house and the man did not have pemission to be there. However, she also said she did not wish to prosecute the man for trespassing.

The officer arrested the man for shoplifting and criminal trespassing. The officer transported the man to Community Bridges, a program that, among other services, helps treat chronic re-offender. The man voluntarily entered into the program.

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