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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

POLICE BEAT: BEST OF THE YEAR

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Simon Asher

“Where’s my lawyer?!” 

Two University of Arizona Police Department officers working a residence life patrol on Jan. 22 saw an Uber drop off two intoxicated females. One was helping the other walk because she was having serious difficulties maintaining her balance. After catching up to them, an officer spoke to the female struggling to walk while the other officer tried to locate the female that helped her. 

The first female was clearly intoxicated and disoriented. The officer spoke to her briefly, and once he identified her as an intoxicated minor, he diverted her to the Dean of Students Office and left her with a friend. 

A short time later, a resident assistant told the officer the female was alone sitting in her vomit. She received medical treatment, during which she said she took six shots.

Meanwhile, the second female was also visually intoxicated and was fast to walk away from officers. As soon as the officers ordered her to stop, she ran away from him through the hallways, yelling she wanted her lawyer and refused to answer any questions.

She was put under arrest immediately while demanding she be read her Miranda rights. The officer determined there was no need to question her anymore. She was also diverted to the Dean of Students Office for being an intoxicated minor.

How not to evade arrest

UAPD was called to Manzanita-Mohave Residence Hall around 9 a.m. on Jan. 29 to check on a male sleeping in the fifth-floor hallway. An officer found the male with his pants partially down, exposing his wet underwear, as if he had urinated himself.

Police woke the male and asked why he was sleeping on the floor. He claimed he went out the night before and that his friend lived in the hall and had his belongings and identified himself to officers. UAPD advised that the male had an outstanding warrant.

Officers knocked on the friend’s door and when a male student answered, officers asked if he knew the male. He stated “no,” and immediately closed the door.

They knocked on the door again and the resident handed police a backpack and some articles of clothing, which belonged to the male. Police took the male to the first floor where he asked if they were going to arrest him.

When the officer said yes, the male attempted to run away and slipped and fell. Officers restrained him and placed him in handcuffs. Police read the male his Miranda rights and questioned him about a pipe they found in his backpack.

“It’s not even my pipe,” he responded. “I don’t use pipes, I roll blunts.”

The male was arrested and transported to Pima County jail where he was booked for trespassing, resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to appear.

Not so peaceful 

A UAPD officer responded to a call from the UA Main Library in regards to an unwanted person being disruptive to staff and students on Oct. 26, 2016.

Upon arrival, the officer was told that a female student had been causing problems for them since August. The student would harass and offend people in the library, and when she was asked to leave, the student became defensive, calling the staff member a “nazi.”

The student left the building but returned three times before leaving for a final time. The situation had gotten to the point that the staff was afraid to have the student in the library. The next morning, a staff member opened the library but forgot to take the closed sign down.

The female student came up to her and asked her if the library was closed, to which the staff member replied that they were not.

“Then why is the closed sign up? You need to take it down,” the student responded.

These confrontations with the student have caused staff members to feel very uncomfortable when they see her in the library, making them feel like they need to work around her. Upon further investigation, the UAPD officer discovered that the student had an exclusionary order with them in 2013.  A new one was completed for the female student and will be issued upon her next contact with UAPD.

Paul Blart: Real cop 

On Feb. 26 around 1:30 a.m., a UAPD officer checked on a woman at First Street and Cherry Avenue whom he noticed to be distressed. The woman was bending over, and the officer thought she might be vomiting, but she turned out to be fine. As he walked back to his patrol car, a man started yelling at him, telling him to leave and that he was merely a “rent-a-cop”.

Due to the slurred speech, the officer determined to he was intoxicated and around 20 years old. The officer assured him that he was in fact a real police officer, but when questioned the man didn’t answer where he was from or what his name was.

As the officer tried to place the man in handcuffs, a second man pushed him in the chest to separate the officer from his friend. As the officer gave verbal commands for both men to get on the ground, they refused and a chase ensued.

The officer chased after the first man, and he tried to climb a wall near the Steward Observatory, but he failed and was detained. The officer sent out a description of the other man over the radio and he was successfully detained.

The officer then left the first detainee and made his way over to the second detainee for identification.

The second man had a small plastic bag of marijuana in his possession, which was confiscated, but he was arrested on misdemeanor assault for pushing the officer.

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