Red car, red flags

A University of Arizona Police Department officer responded to a female UA student’s call to report an incident of street harassment on Jan. 21 at approximately 9 p.m.

The student reported that she left Arbol de la Vida Residence Hall and noticed a red car with a loud engine. A young man wearing a gray sweatshirt was sitting in the car. According to the student, he was around 23 years old with brown hair, brown eyes and scruffy facial hair.

While the student was walking, the man asked if she knew a student named “Steven” who lived in Arbol. The student told him no and that there were probably 500 Stevens living in the hall. 

The student continued to walk through an alley when she noticed the man pull up next to her. 

He asked her if she wanted to “smoke some bud.” She declined and kept walking. He then asked for her phone number, which she did not give to him. The red car continued to follow her as she walked. 

The student started running as the car followed. She found an emergency phone and called the police.

One of the student’s sorority sisters found her and brought her to Apache-Santa Cruz Residence Hall.

The student told officers that she would recognize the man if she saw him again. She agreed to assist UAPD detectives with a composite sketch of the man.

          RELATED: POLICE BEAT JAN. 24: Breaking, no exiting

I must axe you a question

A concerned citizen flagged down a UAPD officer on Jan. 21 with reports of seeing a man carrying an axe walking down Park Avenue around 10:30 a.m.

The officer soon found the man, who was wearing a black trench coat near the Marshall Building on Park Avenue. Hanging from his right hip was the axe.

The officer yelled at the man, instructing him to place the axe on the ground. The man turned to face the officer, who repeated his command. The man complied, placing the axe on the ground.

He then attempted to place his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. The officer instructed him to keep his hands out of his pockets. 

The officer commanded that the man to interlock his fingers behind his head, which the man did. The officer then placed him in handcuffs.

Dispatch advised the officer that the man had two misdemeanor warrants out of Tucson City Court for Failure to Appear. 

The officer proceeded to arrest the man for his outstanding warrants. He placed the man in the back seat of his patrol car and transported him to Pima County Jail. 

While en route, the man explained to the officer that he used the axe for digging in trash cans and personal safety. The officer advised the man that the UA is a weapons-free campus.

Follow Vanessa Ontiveros on Twitter