Police Blotter

Enigmas around Olson, fallen carriers and potential graffiti artists

Timothy Spierings

More stories from Timothy Spierings

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Photo by Submitted

The following information was obtained from the UW-Eau Claire Police Department records.

Mystery at Simpson

An officer was conducting a random vehicle patrol within the Olson Addition Lot on April 24 at 11:08 p.m.

While traveling northbound, the officer observed a male subject walking southbound within the lot towards the officer’s vehicle.

Officer 1 identified the subject from previous cases on campus and observed the subject wearing the same clothing and backpack as documented in previous case.It was also noted that the subject looked “unkempt.”

Officer 1 conducted a u-turn and parked near the main entrance to the Olson Lot in an attempt to view where the subject was traveling to.

After about five minutes, officer 1 did not observe the subject exiting the lot or walking past his location.

Officer 1 then requested officer 2 to travel to his location.

The officers then parked and exited their squad cars near the main west entrance to the Olson Lot and began checking the area, starting with the Simpson Field track storage building.

Officer 1 noted both the lock and locking mechanism to be missing from the main garage door. He then noticed the padlock and locking mechanism to be   laying on the inside of the storage building.

Officer 1 also observed that it appeared as though the locking mechanism had been pulled away from the garage door, indicated by the attachment points and marks left behind.

It is unknown if the damage had been a result of an accident that occurred during normal use or intentionally from someone attempting to break into the storage building.

Officer 1 took several pictures of the locking mechanism, padlock and garage door. The two officers then cleared the storage building.

Officer 1 observed that both the north and south entrances were locked and closed upon clearing the storage building. He was unable to locate anyone within the storage building at that time.

After clearing the storage building, the officers traveled on foot to the green football storage shed located to the northeast of the track storage building.

Officer 1 observed that the main garage door to the building was unlocked and closed. They then cleared the building without locating anything of interest. Officer 1 then locked the main garage door.

The officers then conducted a foot patrol around the exterior of the McPhee Center and Olson Addition to verify that all doors were secured and locked.

Officer 1 also checked the McPhee wooden stairs to see if the subject had turned around and walked back towards lower campus. He was unsuccessful in locating anything of interest.

The officers then cleared the scene.

Barrier breakdown

An officer was dispatched to Haymarket Landing on April 26 at 8:59 p.m.

The Communication Center said the yellow clearance bar that hangs above the underground parking lot had been pulled from the ceiling.

The Communication Center also advised the officer to make contact with a female complainant, a resident assistant, near the main reception desk of Haymarket Landing.

The officer made contact with the complainant near the main entrance of Haymarket Landing. The complainant said she had been walking near the main entrance to the underground parking area of Haymarket Landing at 7:51 p.m.

The complainant said that while she walked past the main entrance to the underground parking garage, she observed that the yellow clearance bar had been hanging down from one side.

The complainant said she notified the hall director regarding the hanging yellow clearance bar, at which point they removed it from the ceiling and placed it within the security room of Haymarket Landing.

The complainant said nothing had been damaged on the clearance bar itself or the chains, and that the left mounting screw had been pulled out of the ceiling.

The complainant said that, around 7 p.m., she had observed several “high school-aged” kids jump up and tap the yellow clearance bar, but had not grabbed onto it or cause it to fall to the ground.

The complainant said she was unsure if the yellow clearance bar fell due to the kids jumping and tapping the bar, or if the bolt was loose to begin with.

The officer then examined the yellow clearance bar which had been secured within the security office. He did not observe any damage to the bar, chains or mounting brackets.

The officer noted that the threaded screw was intact and appeared to have been pulled out of the ceiling. He then went outside to the main entrance of the underground parking garage.

The officer observed that a chain was still attached to the right side of the ceiling where the yellow clearance bar had been located.

Nothing else of interest was located and the officer cleared from Haymarket Landing.

After clearing, the officer reviewed the security camera footage located at the main entrance of Haymarket Landing’s underground parking garage. He was unable to locate anything of interest due to the angle of the security camera.

The officer noted that Eau Claire’s Jazz Fest was taking place during the case.

Pondering at Putnam Park

An officer was parked on 100 3rd Ave. as he observed a male subject in Putnam Park sitting on the ledge of the large retaining wall on April 28 at 6:24 p.m.

The officer drove to the area and approached the subject on foot. The subject was seated on the lower retaining wall where graffiti is often located.

The subject appeared to be listening to music and sending messages on his phone. The officer got the subject’s attention and asked what he was doing.

The subject said he was just sitting there listening to music. The officer had the subject climb up to the platform.

The officer said he was checking on the subject because of the graffiti in the area and because the wall ledge is a dangerous area. He asked the subject if everything was okay.

The subject said everything was fine and that he was just enjoying the view. The officer explained said he was not in trouble and asked him to refrain from going down on the retaining wall.

The Communications Center advised said the subject did not have any wants and was not on probation.

Spierings can be reached at [email protected].