Don’t be a monkey — unless you want a stranger to flick you on the nose while you walk your dog. The next issue of Police Beat is here to tell you all about bike thefts, the tragic story of an out-of-town visitor hair-pulling the very person she was here to visit and reports of not one, but two stolen university golf carts. As always, stay informed so that you can stay prepared and stay safe.
Intoxicated minor starts dorm room scuffle with friend
On Oct. 25, an 18-year-old girl, not affiliated with the University of Arizona, came to Tucson from Gilbert, Arizona, in order to spend the weekend with three of her friends, two of whom were UA students. As per the University of Arizona Police Department report, the girl became heavily intoxicated as the four spent time on University Boulevard. She became increasingly aggressive, which spurred her friends to try and take her back to a dorm room at Graham-Greenlee Residence Hall.
In the room, the girl got emotional and repeatedly called her brother and asked him to pick her up, according to the UAPD report. One of her friends then used the phone to explain to the brother that his sister was intoxicated and acting hostile.
This spurred the girl to grab her friend’s hair and push her to the ground. A fight broke out between the pair in the dorm hallway.
The girl’s three friends locked themselves in the dorm room and called 911. When officers arrived, they discovered the girl sitting on the floor outside the room covered in blood from a nose injury. She was taken to the hospital.
No one involved wanted to press any charges for assault, but the girl was arrested, cited and released for minor in possession charges.
Two incidents of university golf carts stolen from Forbes building
On Oct. 9, UAPD received a report of grand theft auto from a faculty member who said that a university golf cart parked on the southeast corner of the Forbes building was stolen. The cable wire lock that supported it was cut. The golf cart was last seen on Sept. 30, meaning it was stolen during that period of time.
On Oct. 14, a separate golf cart was stolen also outside of the Forbes building, with the same cut cable wire lock. Security footage shows an unidentified male driving away with the golf cart at 5 a.m., but the video quality was too low to provide a description of the driver to officers.
Dog-walker pushed by angry woman during morning stroll
On Oct. 7, a man walked his dog named Whiskey on the sidewalk north of the Meinel Optical Sciences building. Another dog walker with two dogs passed by. The other two dogs became excited and tried to run towards Whiskey. The owner pulled the leash and told Whiskey “don’t be a monkey.”
A woman, who was standing about 10 feet behind Whiskey’s owner, believed that this remark was directed towards her and that he had called her a monkey. After the other dog walker left, the woman approached Whiskey’s owner angrily. Whiskey’s owner tried to explain that she made a mistake, but the woman pushed him and flicked his nose.
Neither Whiskey nor his owner pressed charges.
Graham-Greenlee bathroom intentionally flooded
On Oct. 28, a residential assistant at the Graham-Greenlee Residence Hall discovered flooding in the third floor men’s bathroom.
Two sinks had running water with drains clogged by paper towels, causing the flooding. There was water damage to the floor of the bathroom and some of the carpet in the hallway outside the bathroom.
The cost of the damage and suspect information are both unknown.
UA student harassed at Marshall building next to Panera Bread
On Oct. 14, a female UA student was walking from the Panera Bread attached to the Louise F. Marshall building to her dorm when she was stopped by a male who stated he wanted to talk to her.
The 52-year-old male had dark jeans, a blue shirt with gold chains and cuts on his fingers with blood on them. UAPD described the man as seeming mentally unstable.
Whenever the student tried to walk away from the male, he stopped her. At one point, he grabbed her arm, but she managed to leave the situation.
Student’s car broken into and attempted stolen
On Oct. 29, UAPD responded to the parking lot at 443 N. Park Ave. where a UA student said that someone tried to steal her car.
The student noticed that her rear passenger window was broken and the steering column had been tampered with. She told UAPD that she last saw her car on Oct. 22, meaning that the break-in had happened sometime in the one-week period between then and the time that it was discovered.
A new layer of dirt had accumulated on the car, indicating that the break-in was not recent.
Bike and scooter thefts
Between Oct. 3 and Oct. 24, a total of nine bikes and scooters were reported stolen, with a further six attempted stolen. Of these incidents, four resulted in the detention of an individual related to the incident.
During one incident, officers approached a man with two bikes in tow. The man reacted by throwing one of the bikes in his possession at the officers. Instead of using his second bike to ride away, the man discarded it and ran away on foot. He was detained, but the Pima County Jail refused to book him. That did not stop him from being issued a 12-month exclusionary order from UA property.
