Police Blotter

A stop sign violation and a mysterious alarm in Suites

Kyra Price

More stories from Kyra Price

Across the Pond
March 12, 2024
Police+Blotter

Stop sign violation

An officer was conducting stationary patrol on University Drive on Feb. 27, watching for stop sign violations at that intersection.

At approximately 9:40 p.m., he saw a vehicle approaching that intersection from the Towers Hall parking lot heading east. The vehicle continued through the intersection without any attempts to slow down or stop at the stop sign.

The officer activated his emergency lights and initiated a traffic stop on that vehicle. The officer made contact with the driver, introduced himself and explained the reason for the stop.

The driver was identified by his driver’s license, but when asked questions, stared at the officer without answering. The driver did not have proof of auto insurance on his person or inside the vehicle.

The officer returned to his squad car and checked records for the driver and the vehicle. The Communications Center advised that the driver was valid to drive with no warrants, and was not on probation, but the vehicle had an expired registration tag of August 2021.

The officer completed the traffic violation and issued a citation, as well as issuing a written warning for operating a vehicle without proof of auto insurance. The officer issued the citations, answered any questions the driver had and ended the contact.

Mystery alarm in Suites

At approximately 9:56 a.m. on Feb. 25, an officer was dispatched to an unknown alarm in the Suites. A resident assistant told the Communications Center that a generator alarm was activated, but did not relay the exact location of the alarm.

The officer went to the Suites and did not hear an alarm, then called the RA and went straight to voicemail. The RA only gave her first name and phone number, so the officer performed a reverse-telephone look-up in CampS and found her room number.

The officer went to the room and spoke with the RA’s roommate who informed her that the RA was not there. The officer explained the situation to the roommate and asked her to contact the RA and have her call the officer on the squad cell phone.

The officer went to the basement and did not hear an alarm. As she was about to leave, a student approached the officer and asked if she was looking for something. The officer explained she was called because of an alarm but could not find it.

The student said she was an RA and the alarm was likely from the panel behind the front desk. The officer thanked her and went to the front desk, where she saw a generator panel.

The alarm had been silenced, but there was a red light next to “emergency stop activated.” The officer called the on-call electrician and explained the situation. He told her the alarm was related to the generator outside, and it was not an emergency.

The officer thanked him and ended the call. The electrician contacted the officer later and told her he had come to campus and fixed the issue, but it might occur again. The officer thanked him.

Price can be reached at [email protected].