Why are you running?
What’s the number one thing we’re told to do when being stopped by a police officer? Hint: It’s not to run. Apparently, a university student was not aware of this when she was approached by a University of Arizona Police Department officer in the early morning hours of Jan. 31 near Banner — University Medical Center.
The female student was spotted by the officer standing in the middle of the road near Helen Street and Martin Avenue. He was concerned for her, since she showed clear signs of intoxication, and tried to approach her. This is when she began running away. The officer identified himself as UAPD, but she continued running and the officer ran after her, worried she would run onto Speedway Boulevard into traffic.
She continued to run even when a driving UAPD officer and two Tucson Police Department vehicles arrived and turned on their lights while driving alongside her. She continued to run into the parking lot of the Palm Shadows Apartment complex in between cars and even into a car before she finally surrendered with her hands in the air. A TPD officer then placed her in handcuffs. She declined to take a breathalyzer test because she had not been drinking, even though the officer listed multiple signs of her intoxication.
When asked why she had run and continued running for so long, she stated she was covering for her friends and they couldn’t run as fast as her, even though she had no friends with her for the whole incident. She said she had been at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house but insisted she had not been drinking. She was cleared medically and cited and released for Minor in Possession of Alcohol in Body and informed she would need to appear in court on her court date. She was then taken home by the UAPD officer.
Taco-bout being hungry…
Taco Bell is clearly one of everyone’s favorite cravings. Whether it’s after a night out or just a quick run in the mornings, Taco Bell lovers everywhere can understand the need for a late-night Crunchwrap Supreme. But one particular student’s need for Taco Bell went a little too far. In the early morning hours of Jan. 29, long after Taco Bell had closed, UAPD received several calls of high priority from TPD of a student causing problems at the Taco Bell located at the corner of campus.
It was reported that a UA student had tried to break in to the Taco Bell doors, used a rock to try to break into the shed and also attempted to get into an employee’s car that was leaving. When a UAPD officer arrived on the scene to assist TPD, he approached the student and asked what was going on. The student said he was just trying to get food, even though the restaurant was clearly closed with the lights off and doors locked.
The officer then asked the student why TPD had gotten reports of him trying to break into a vehicle and the restaurant, to which he replied he had not attempted to gain entry to either of these. The officer realized the student had an odor of alcohol and was slurring, so the officer asked the student if he had been drinking, and the student said he had been at Frog & Firkin, the bar/restaurant on University Boulevard.
The student was cited and released with a Code of Conduct violation through the Dean of Students.
Road rage?
Tucson is well known for its seemingly eccentric population of people and things they do. It’s what makes it our beloved “Dirty T.” One particular event on Jan. 29 involving two Tucson locals at the corner of Speedway Boulevard and Campbell Avenue is just one example of how and why Tucson has earned its charming nickname.
An officer that was working in UAPD’s Crime Prevention office was approached by a man who walked in and expressed his concern from seeing an armed male subject outside the building. The man explained he had been sitting at the light waiting to make a U-turn when he saw a man on the corner of the street having what appeared to be a normal conversation with two other men inside a truck in one of the lanes near him.
The man on the street then suddenly raised his voice and walked back toward his stuff, which was located on the stone UA sign on the southwest corner of Speedway Boulevard and Campbell Avenue, and produced a firearm from a black case. The man then began yelling at the occupants of the truck, and they were yelling back at him, but he never pointed the gun at anyone, according to witness. The truck finally drove away when the light changed and the man returned the firearm to where the rest of his belongings were.
Two officers went to check on this incident and located the man matching the description the witness had given sitting on the UA sign. When asked about the situation, the man gave a more in-depth story, stating that someone in the truck had started shouting obscenities at him for no reason and when he shouted back, the passenger of the truck then produced a 9mm handgun. The man on the street then went and got his pellet gun out of its case and returned to the curb to continue shouting at the truck while holding it, but he had no malicious intentions. The man on the street was asked to move by TPD and UAPD and was informed that he would be contacted to identify the men in the truck if they were located.
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