UAPD takes driver’s “novelty gift”

A University of Arizona Police Department officer was riding his patrol motorcycle westbound on Speedway Boulevard and Mountain Avenue on March 30 around 3:30 p.m. when he noticed a gray vehicle with an expired license plate.

The officer initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the female driver and asked for her license. When the driver opened her wallet to remove her license, the officer noticed a South Carolina driver’s license.

The woman proceeded to give the officer a California driver’s license. When asked about the South Carolina license, the woman responded, “I don’t use that.”

The officer asked the woman if he could see it and noticed that her date of birth was different on her California license.

Police noted the date of birth on the driver’s South Carolina license would make her over 21 years old.

The officer believed the South Carolina license to be fictitious, and he conducted a record check on the license that returned with no record found.

The woman told police a friend purchased it for her as a novelty gift and that she had never used it to purchase alcohol.

The officer cited and released the driver for knowingly possessing a fictitious driver license and an expired registration. The fake license was placed into UAPD evidence.

Loitering man with a machete

A UAPD officer was conducting a security check of the UA buildings surrounding First Street and Martin Avenue around 10 a.m. on March 30 when he noticed a man lying on the sidewalk near Rawls/Eller Lodge.

Approximately two weeks prior, the officer had contacted the same man who had been sleeping on the same sidewalk and warned him for the policy violation, as well as a possible exclusionary order.

Police completed a citation for loitering and explained that the man would have a court date and asked the man to sign. The man said he couldn’t because his hand hurt.

As police began handcuffing him, he started to argue with officers. Officers finally placed the man into handcuffs and transported him to Pima County Jail.

Prior to arriving, an officer asked the man if he had drugs. He responded, “no drugs.” The officer then asked if the man had any weapons, to which the man only looked at the officer.

Several minutes later, jail staff took custody of the man and searched him. They found a sheathed machete inside the left leg of the man’s pants.

When the UAPD officer questioned the man about the machete, the man responded, “I said no to the drugs.”

No additional contraband was found, and the man was booked on a misdemeanor charge of loitering and a felony charge of promoting prison contraband.

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