‘I was jacking around’
Saturday, Oct. 2
At 11:12 p.m., an officer saw a group of students walking down the sidewalk in front of Hibbard Hall.

The officer saw a man and woman in the group stop and separate themselves from the larger group. The man was seen dropping his pants to the ground, leaving him dressed in white boxer shorts.

When the officer approached in a squad car, the man had his pants around his calves and quickly pulled them up when he spotted him. The woman walked away, but the man stopped when the officer asked him to.

The man identified himself with an International Student ID card. He stuck his hands in his pockets, stating they were cold, but removed them when the officer asked him to.

The officer asked why his pants had been around his calves, and the man responded his belt was broken. The officer saw no damage to the belt in question.

When the officer placed the man in the back of the squad car, the man said, “I admit, I was jacking around.”

The Europe native was issued a citation for disorderly conduct and was allowed to leave.

Breaking down barriers
Tuesday, Sept. 28
A university police officer received a report of several people riding down the university hill in a grocery cart at 9:10 p.m.

A concerned Lower-Campus RA told the officer she feared for the safety of the cart-riders.

When the officer arrived at the base of the hill, he found the lower gate had been struck and was lying alongside the guard rail.

A bolt had been sheared off the bottom of the arm.

The officer then found the Shopko cart resting on the barricade, which had been knocked over.

A mechanic was called to repair the gate. The officer assisted.

He then searched the area for blood and other signs of injury, but found nothing.

None of the local hospitals reported patients with mysterious head or bodily injuries.

Can’t hold it
Sunday, Oct. 10
At 12:05 a.m., a student patrol alerted an officer about a possible public urination case. The student patrol officer had spotted two males urinating near McIntyre Library.

After the patrol officer pointed out the men to the University Police officer, the officer approached the men.

The men denied the charge of public urination and said they were on their way to an off-campus residence.

After questioning, the men admitted they had attempted to go into the bushes near the sidewalk under the library. They said they were trying to stay in the shadows near the creek, but continued to deny urinating.

The student patrol officer again reiterated he had seen the men urinate outside the library.

At this time, the officer noticed wet spots on and below the groin area of one of the men’s pants.

The man had no explanation for these spots.

Though they continued to deny the charges against them, the officer issued both a citation for illegal deposit of human waste.

Quite a stash
Thursday, Sept. 16
At 7:15 a.m., two officers responded to an anonymous report of drug use in a nearby residence hall room.

The room’s two male occupants gave officers permission to enter.

The officers explained the report they had received and asked if there were weapons or illegal drugs in the room. They also explained that if there was alcohol, they would confiscate it, but not issue citations.

One of the students admitted to possessing alcohol, but denied having any other illegal items.

The other student permitted the officers to search his belongings, while the other initially refused.

The officer told the student who refused he believed he had marijuana. The student denied the accusation.

The officer then asked the student to open a desk drawer, and he did. The officer spotted a cigarette cellophane wrapper containing a white powdery substance he believed to be cocaine or methamphetamine.

The student told the officer the powder was chopped-up caffeine pills.

The substance later tested negative for the presence of cocaine or methamphetamine.

The officer confiscated the powder and asked the student to open his top dresser drawer. He first refused, but later agreed.

After several items were removed, a plastic bag containing marijuana was exposed.

The officer confiscated it and then was given permission to search the refrigerator, in which he discovered six cans of Coors Light and a drinking bottle containing alcohol.

The freezer compartment also contained a plastic bottle made into a pipe that had black residue in it. The student admitted it was a marijuana pipe.

The officer then found a paper clip with black residue and a blow tube on the student’s bed.

The student admitted there was also a bag of marijuana in his bed.

The officers issued the student citations for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Internet misconduct
Wednesday, Oct. 27
An officer was dispatched at 10:21 p.m. to McIntyre Library to check on a report of an individual viewing pornographic Web sites on the library computers.

When the officer arrived, he spoke with an employee who told him a man was seen looking at pornographic materials in clear view of other patrons. She told the officer that the same man had been seen viewing pornography several times in the past month and always had stopped when asked.

The officer found the man, who was in his 40s and neatly dressed, but he was not looking at pornography at the time.

The officer asked him if he had been looking at pornography, and the man admitted to doing so.

When the officer asked the man what exactly he had looked at, the man responded he had looked at pictures of naked men and women having sex.

He told the officer he had a problem with pornography and that it made his wife mad.

The officer asked if the man was aware that anyone passing by could view the pornography as well, and the man responded he understood.

The officer then issued him a citation for disorderly conduct and requested he no longer view pornography in the library. The man said he understood the citation and would try to comply with the request.

Mouse in the house
Sunday, Nov. 21
At 9:09 p.m., an officer was dispatched to Katharine Thomas Hall to check on a report of a mouse in one of the residents’ rooms.

When the officer arrived, the male resident was waiting for him outside.

The man explained he had “freaked out” when he saw a mouse run across the window sill. He said he was afraid he would fall asleep and wake up to find the mouse nibbling on him.

The officer asked the man what he wanted him to do about the situation.

“Catch it,” the man replied.

The officer explained the situation was hardly a law enforcement issue and suggested the man either get a mouse trap from Housing and Residence Life or buy one at a store.

The man said he would do so, but asked the officer to help him look for the mouse for the time being.

The officer agreed to help look.

Behind the room’s couch, the officer found a great deal of garbage, but was unable to locate the mouse.

The room’s messiness prevented a more intense search for the mouse, so the officer told the man to request assistance from Housing and Residence Life and left.

Not a tree hugger
Saturday, Nov. 6
At 12:03 a.m., an officer was alerted to a man sitting on a steam pit near Putnam Hall. The man reportedly had been involved in a verbal altercation with another man who had driven a vehicle past the pit. After exchanging profanities, the car drove away, and the man sitting on the pit stood up and punched a tree in anger.

The officer found the man sitting on the same steam pit with a swollen, bloody hand.

The man was cooperative and identified himself. He told the officer he was sitting on the pit, talking with a female friend, when a man pulled up and told him to stop talking to girls.

He admitted to exchanging profanities with the driver and punching a nearby tree in anger.

The officer detected a strong odor of alcohol on the man’s breath and administered a Preliminary Breath Test, receiving a reading of .13.

The officer issued the man a citation for underage drinking and advised him to return to his residence hall while police looked for the other man.

At that point, the officer was told that a car matching the description of the one in question had been spotted in the Putnam lot.

The officer saw that the driver of the car matched the description of the man who had shouted profanities to the man on the steam pit.

Another officer arrived to assist with the driver, who smelled of alcohol.

The driver said he and his friends were driving back from a house party when they noticed the man on the pit, who had been bothering a female friend of theirs at the party that night.

The driver said he stopped in front of the man and told him to stop bothering girls, at which point a verbal altercation ensued.

He told officers he had driven away when the man on the steam pit “flipped out.”

The first officer asked the man how much he drank that night, and he responded that he had consumed four or five glasses of beer.

After administering several field sobriety tests, the officer took the man into custody for violating absolute sobriety, in addition to charges of disorderly conduct.

The man was taken to the hospital for processing of the absolute sobriety violation.

He then was taken to Eau Claire County Jail.

Batter up
Sunday, Oct. 10
At 12:58 a.m., an officer responded to a report by Student Patrol of a suspicious man walking across the footbridge carrying a baseball bat. The man reportedly was swinging the bat around recklessly. The report was the second of its nature in two weeks.

As the officer waited on Garfield Avenue for the man to cross, he was advised that the man was vomiting over the railing of the bridge. After vomiting, the man took the baseball bat in question and threw it into the river.

The officer stopped the man, who admitted to finding the aluminum bat on the ground and picking it up. He told the officer that when he saw the police car, he got scared and threw the bat into the river.

The officer detected the smell of alcohol on the man’s breath and noticed his eyes were bloodshot and glassy.

When questioned, the man admitted to consuming alcohol and submitted to a Preliminary Breath Test. A reading of .11 was received.

The officer then issued a citation for underage drinking and verbally warned him about littering.

Fleeing barriers
Friday, Nov. 5

At 10:01 p.m., two patrolling officers were alerted to a report that two men had stolen a barricade that was at the bottom of the hill on Garfield Avenue.

The men ran from a student patrol officer along Putnam Drive, eluding him to that point.

The officers drove their squad car to Phillips Parking Lot, where the men reportedly had run.

The officers saw them running in front of the School of Nursing.

They did not have the missing barricade with them.

The officers approached the men, and they stopped when told to.

The officers noticed a strong odor of alcoholic beverages on the men.

When the officers asked if they had been drinking, the men admitted they had.

They told the officers they had removed the barricade to place it in a better location, but dropped it while fleeing from the patrolman.

One of the officers then administered Preliminary Breath Tests to both men, receiving readings of .15 and .14.

The officer issued each a citation for underage drinking.

Overreaction
Wednesday, Nov. 3

An officer was called to the Parking and Transportation Office, where a man reportedly was arguing loudly with people working in the office.

When the officer arrived at noon, he was told that the man was yelling profanity and making a scene after being issued a $5 ticket for improperly securing his bike to a handrail.

The man was visibly upset and close to hyperventilating.

To calm him, the officer took him into a private office to discuss the situation.

The man told the officer he found the ticket on his bike secured to a rail that did not specify such activity was illegal. The bike also was locked to the rail with a police lock.

He said he became upset and used profane language when he was told the lock would not be removed until he paid the fine.

An employee told the officer the man had yelled profanity at people working in the office and had gone so far as to throw money at one of them, demanding his bike be unlocked.

Both the man and the employee said at one point, he told employees to call the police.

The officer informed the man that, judging from the story he had been told, he was issuing him a citation for disorderly conduct.

The officer then accompanied the man and a parking officer to unlock the bike.