Police Blotter

Throwing beer cans and jumping on top of roofs landed students in trouble with campus police this week

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Photo by Submitted

Story by Anne Sandell, Chief Copy Editor

Immature teenage minds

Two UW-Eau Claire students received citations for an ordinance violation, one student also receiving a first offense underage, after climbing on top of the McPhee Center roof Saturday morning.

At around 3:33 a.m. a campus police officer was performing a building check of the interior of the McPhee center when he observed two male subjects standing outside an entrance.

The officer observed that both subjects were looking up toward the roof and appeared to be talking to someone. As the officer approached their location, he could hear what sounded like someone walking on top of the roof.

Campus police made contact with the two subjects outside the entrance and asked them what they were doing. Both subjects did not say anything and pointed upwards to the roof.

The subjects then advised the officer their two friends had jumped on top of the roof.

Shining his flashlight at the roof, the officer observed one subject standing. He asked who else was up there and a second subject then sat up.

The subjects advised the officer it was only the two of them on the roof and they had climbed a concrete block and jumped in order to gain access. They notified the officer they had “tested their limits” jumping from the concrete block to the roof.

The officer observed a three foot gap between the roof and the concrete block.

When asked why they were on the roof, the subjects told the officer they were walking around looking for something to do and decided to climb up. They told the officer they had only been up there for a few minutes and were looking for a way down.

They told the officer they could jump back onto the concrete block to get down, but the officer did not want them jumping down for risk of anyone getting injured.

The subjects apologized several times for climbing on top of the roof and told the officer they still had “immature teenage minds.”

Campus police told the subjects he was not comfortable with them walking around on top of the roof, due to ice and snow.

An Eau Claire Police Department officer arrived on scene to assist. The officers checked around the roof for a safe way for the subjects to get down, but were unable to find one.

According to the report, the responding officer then contacted the Eau Claire Fire Department (EDFD) so they could safety assist the subjects down.

A short while later, the ECFD arrived on scene and used a ladder to help the subjects climb down. Both subjects came down from the roof covered in snow and were unharmed.

Campus police brought all four subjects into McPhee Center so they could warm up.

While speaking to the subjects, the officer detected the odor of intoxicants coming from their persons. He advised the subjects he was looking for honesty and asked them how much alcohol they had consumed that night.

They all denied consuming alcohol and stated they were playing video games tonight. Speaking to each person individually, the officer noticed one subject smelled of intoxicants and had bloodshot eyes.

The subject told the officer he was going to be honest and stated he had consumed shots of tequila around 9-9:30 p.m. He submitted to a preliminary breath test and a result of .067 was obtained.

The officer then spoke to the other individuals who also submitted to preliminary breath tests. All subjects had a result of .000.

Campus police informed the two subjects from the roof that he would be issuing them citations for unauthorized access to the roof while also informing one he would be issued a citation for underage alcohol consumption.

Look out below

Five Eau Claire students received underages and another received a citation for selling/producing alcohol to an underage person and throwing hard objects, Thursday night.

At around  9:03 p.m. an officer was dispatched to Towers Hall regarding individuals throwing beer cans. The officer met with the complainant, a resident assistant, in the lobby.

The RA stated people threw beer cans out the window in one of the dorm rooms, landing on the sidewalk outside. An interim associate director of leadership and education had been walking outside the building near this exit when the cans came down.

The complainant stated someone from the floor had also yelled out the window.

Officers responded to the room in question and could hear loud voices from within the room. Upon knocking, the voices inside the room lowered and a male answered the door.

While speaking to the subject in the doorway the officer observed an open window in the room and the screen torn. He also detected the odor of intoxicants coming from the room.

The officers explained to the subject they were there to investigate beer cans being thrown out the window in the room. They asked for consent to enter the room and the subject obliged.

Once inside the room, officers observed six individuals as well as a tear in the screen of the window that was about two feet wide. On the carpet there appeared to be freshly spilled beer and in the recycling container there were empty beer cans. They then identified all of the occupants in the room.

One subject admitted throwing at least two cans out the window. He stated the cans were empty when he tossed them and that he was not throwing them at anyone in particular.

The officer asked that all the alcohol in the room be placed in the center, then took one of the residents of the room to speak in the hallway while another officer waited in the room.

The subject told the officer he had consumed a “couple” Bud Light Lime beers in the room between 7:30-8 p.m. He said only one subject in the room had thrown beer cans out the window and that the screen had been damaged for a few months.

Campus police then spoke with the other resident in the hallway. He told the officer he began drinking at around 8:00 p.m., consuming two bottles of spotted cow beer.

The officer spoke with the subject who had thrown the beer cans out the window. He told the officer he had been in the room for the past 4-5 hours studying with people and started drinking after finishing his studies.

He admitted to throwing two empty cans of Bud Light Lime out the window within a five-minute period. He said he was 21 years old and bought the  beer to the room along with a bottle of vodka.

He also said he yelled out of the window.

After speaking with him, the officer spoke to one last subject who stated she had arrived in the room at 8:00 p.m. She said everyone had been “hanging out” and playing cards. She admitted to drinking wine she had brought to the room.

Returning to the room, another officer had spoken with the remaining subjects who all admitted to consuming alcohol. The group was then brought down to the hall director’s office to complete paperwork.

At the office all of the subjects performed preliminary breath tests, with results ranging from .08 to .05, which resulted in citations. One subject blew a .00 and therefore did not receive a citation, even though she had admitted to drinking a small amount of wine.

The subject who was 21 received a citation for throwing hard objects and for providing alcohol to underage individuals.

All of the subjects were given a pamphlet for the Eau Claire County 1st Offenders program and their questions were answered.