Man loses finger in lab accident

After accidentally amputating a finger and severely damaging another, a UA researcher received assistance from the University of Arizona Police Department and paramedics in the UA Agricultural Research Center at 2:06 p.m. on March 15.

The injury happened after the researcher became distracted and his right cotton glove and fingers were pulled into a meat tenderizer.

When the man removed his hand from the machine, his right ring finger was missing.

UAPD officers interviewed a technician who had been working at another tenderizer nearby. She said she had heard the man scream and witnessed his hand being pulled into the machine, and saw “severe damage to his fingers, surrounded by an abundance of blood” after he removed his hand, according to the police report.

The man’s finger was collected, iced and given to paramedics. The scene was then photographed and a UA Risk Management Services representative went to the scene.

The injured researcher was taken to the University of Arizona Medical Center.

Wrong place, wrong time

A UA employee reported a man who “aggressively approached” her outside Pima Residence Hall to UAPD at 5 p.m. on March 14.

In a phone call, the woman told UAPD that the man blocked her path as they walked toward each other on Highland Avenue, even as she stepped from side to side, attempting to get past him.

The man then asked what time it was, to which the woman responded, “Five o’clock.”

The man then hit the woman on her shoulder with the back of his hand and asked if it was 4:45 p.m. or 5 p.m. She wasn’t injured, but the hit was strong enough that she felt it, the woman said.

She then repeated her answer, which seemed to agitate the man. He asked for her name, but she didn’t tell him.

The woman then got around the man and kept walking.

She didn’t want to pursue criminal charges, but did want the incident documented.

On the rocks

A non-UA affiliated man was arrested for first-degree failure to appear and was taken into the UAPD station for questioning at 5 p.m. on March 16.

As the suspect was driven to the Pima County Jail, an officer took inventory of the man’s 2008 Cadillac STS before it was towed.

During the inspection, the officer found a 3-inch long, clear pipe in the car’s center console that contained four small crystal rocks weighing 0.3 grams.

The pipe was placed into evidence and an Arizona Department of Public Safety Scientific Examination form was completed to have the crystal rocks analyzed.

Tucson Wrecker then towed the vehicle.

DPS had not completed its examination of the crystal substance by the time of the report.