Between the Tucson Festival of Books and the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine class of 2024’s Match Day, campus has certainly been more crowded than usual. These events, combined with different criminal incidents across the UA, have kept the University of Arizona Police Department busy.

From vehicle theft to a knife-bearing festival-goer, this edition of Police Beat will get you up to speed on what UAPD has been up to in the last couple weeks. Stay safe, Wildcats, and don’t forget to lock all those vehicle doors!

Man lunges at UA employee vehicle

On March 6, a UA employee contacted UAPD after a man lunged at her vehicle. The man was contacted near the Gerard P. Kuiper Space Sciences Building and police reports noted he had several areas of dried blood on the back of his hands and neck, as well as a bleeding and probably infected wound under his chin. 

Despite his condition, the man refused medical evaluation. Because the suspect had been advised against camping on UA property in the past, he was issued a one-year exclusionary order. 

Man arrested for bringing knife to Tucson Festival of Books

On March 10, during the Tucson Festival of Books, UA staff and festival volunteers reported seeing a suspect near Bear Down Gymnasium with a knife in his waistband. 

According to police reports, the suspect then removed the knife from his waistband and ran south from the UA Mall. 

Officers located the suspect south of the Main Library, where he became combative and officers put him in a wrap restraint. Investigation of the incident determined that no criminal charges occured with the knife.

Following the incident, the suspect was arrested on three Tucson Police Department warrants and one UAPD warrant. Once he was medically cleared by the Tucson Fire Department, he was issued an exclusionary order and transported to jail. 

Vehicle theft

Between Feb. 28-29, an unknown suspect entered a student’s vehicle on the first level of the Park Avenue Parking Garage and stole a $650 helmet and a $130 sweatshirt. 

According to the police report, the doors of the vehicle were closed but not latched. There are no suspects or leads at this time. 

On March 11, a female student reported that she had parked her white Kia Soul in the Park Avenue Garage the prior evening at approximately 7:30 p.m. When she returned, the vehicle was gone. 

The student’s boyfriend had personal belongings in the vehicle, including an AirTag. The AirTag tracked the vehicle to the Zona Verde Apartments’ parking lot. The vehicle exhibited no external damage, leaving no clear indication of how entry was gained by the suspects; however, the steering column showed signs of damage.

Footage from the garage shows the vehicle leaving the garage at 8:24 p.m., and footage from the apartments showed that it parked at the Zona Verde lot at 8:26 p.m.

Two males walked away from the vehicle in the footage, but the quality was not high enough to discern further information. 

Efforts to gather more information, including DNA swabbing of the vehicle, are underway.

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