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Police Beat Stories

News from the Police desk.

Police Beat March 3 - March 9

Sex offense

March 1 A 50-year-old male — described as short, thick build, with black, balding hair — was reported for trying to take inappropriate photos with his phone. He would take his phone, put it under the desks in the library and snap shots of female students.
 

Drug Paraphernalia

March 2 A marijuana pipe was found in the library. The owner is unknown.

 

Assault

March 4 A student refused to obey the commands of a traffic officer and hit the officer with his car. He was arrested, cited and released. The traffic officer sustained minor injuries.

 

Theft

March 4 A student was arrested, cited and released for stealing an oatmeal raisin cookie from the Bookstore.

Police Beat: Feb. 23- March 2

Disorderly conduct

Feb. 23: A male student was reported hanging out of a third story window in Merrill Hall. The CSA on duty observed him as she was doing her rounds. The student was apologetic when contacted and said he wouldn’t do it again.

Feb. 24: A visitor in the east side of the HBLL was passing out fliers to an indoor pool party. When officers arrived, the suspect was gone.

Feb. 24: Police received a call about a possible fight in progress in lot 16. Upon arrival, five individuals were separated. One was uncooperative. The two parties were arguing over which party deserved the parking stall. One party claimed his wife was sick and pregnant, but the other party wouldn’t give in. Police found another parking stall for the party.

Suspicious behavior

Police Beat

Trespassing

Feb. 15: Three individuals were caught trespassing in LaVell Edwards Stadium at 2 a.m. All were arrested and cited. They were released later.

Suspicious Activity

Feb. 16: An officer heard an explosion in the outdoor track. When the officer got to the scene, he found an improvised device, but no one was in the area.

Feb. 19: An officer witnessed a male suspect kick one of the light posts on campus, causing it to go out. When the officer confronted the male, he apologized. The light came back on and the male’s frustration didn’t damage the post permanently.

Juvenile Problems

Feb. 14: A concerned mother called because her 13-year-old daughter was threatening her with a stick. Officers responded and mediated the situation.

Police Beat Jan. 29-Feb. 3

Police Beat

Jan. 29-Feb. 3

Odd Behavior
Feb. 2: A couple called saying they wanted to get rid of a human skull they had kept for years. The skull had been passed down through three family generations, and the couple’s son kept it in his room until he recently moved out. Lieutenant Arnold Lemmon said the skull was probably excavated back in the 1960s in Arizona. Police took the skull and turn it over to the state archeological department. Lemmon said the couple did the right thing to call police because throwing away a human skull is a felony.
Disorderly Conduct

Jan. 30: A visitor was issued a citation for scalping tickets outside the BYU vs. Utah basketball game.

Feb. 3: A suspect was stopped on campus with possession of stolen property, paraphernalia and prescription drugs without a prescription. He was booked into the Utah County Jail.

Police Beat : Feb. 2

 Jan. 25 There was a report of an intoxicated student in the Cannon Center. When police arrived at the scene it turned out the student was on medication.

Jan. 28 Police were called to the south side of Miller Park; reportedly there had been some graffiti on a dumpster. Police looked around and came across a two inch by six inch word in marker that read “Paris.”

Jan. 28 A fan camping out by the Marriott Center reported someone driving by and throwing firecrackers up on the balcony. The only damage was burnt holes in his tarp.

Police Beat: Jan. 20

Suspicious Activity

Jan. 12: The driver of a white pick-up truck reportedly whipped into a handicap stall, parked and ran to class. Officers confirmed that the running person indeed had a handicap permit.
Jan. 12: In the Cannon Center, a male, 50, and a female, in her early 20s, entered the building and began taking provocative pictures. When police arrived, the couple had left the scene.
Jan. 13: At 2:45 a.m., suspicious howling and crying was reported coming from Young Hall. When officers arrived they couldn’t find anyone or anything.

Theft

Jan. 13: A male student, 26, was caught stealing a $1.80 drink from the Twilight Zone. When questioned, he said he was in a hurry and forgot to pay. He was arrested, cited then let go with a 72-hour suspension from school.

Police Beat: Best of the last decade

Photo by Andrew Van Wagenen. University Police Officer Carl Whiting makes a patrol of the campus.

Compiled by NATALIE CROFTS and ALICIA MOULTON

For the past decade, students have been reading it, talking about it and sticking clips of it on their apartment refrigerators.

But even before the turn of the millennium, the BYU Police Beat had become one of the most oft-read features of The Daily Universe.

The following is a compilation of the decade’s best, most memorable and funniest items in The Daily Universe Police Beat.

We couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.   
Disorderly Conduct
June 29, 2006: A man was found bathing in the fountain of the Joseph F. Smith Building and praying to a rock.

September 6, 2009: Two male subjects were knocking doors in the female area of Wyview Park.  They identified themselves as missionaries.  When the police arrived the two male students said they thought it was a novel way to meet girls.

Looking back at the past decade

Whenever a decade comes to an end, the media bombards us with important-sounding “best of the decade” lists, covering everything from pop albums to political speeches. The truth is, there’s really no scientific way to determine the best movie or greatest quarterback of the decade, since it’s all based on opinion. Still, lists such as these can provide a nostalgic look back at what has changed our world in the past 10 years.

When The Daily Universe decided to produce a retrospective of the decade, we chose to keep the series close to campus. After all, if our readers want to reflect on the big national stories of the 2000’s, they won’t have to look far to find them. But as a BYU-based publication, we are uniquely situated to dig through the archives and let the student body know how the “Provo bubble” has transformed since the ball dropped in 2000.

Police Beat for November 18

Domestic Violence

Nov. 9: Domestic violence was reported at Wyview Park. Two male roommates were arguing over the temperature control setting of the thermostat when things got too heated and one roommate began assaulting the other. The males were separated and one was issued a citation. The cited individual left the apartment and stayed somewhere else for the evening.
 

Harassment

Nov. 13: At 5:30 p.m. a woman was walking up Maeser hill to the testing center when a Latino male walked up behind her, asked her the time, then grabbed her buttocks. The suspect then ran westbound on the path and the female began chasing him. The suspect then stopped, turned around, and yelled obscenities at the victim. The female reported the incident to the police two and a half hours later, after she took her test.
 

Suspicious Activity

Police Beat: Nov. 10

Suspicious activity

Nov. 5: A man in his 60s and woman in her 20s showed up at the Morris Center. They went to the back of the cafeteria where the woman posed provocatively while the man took her picture. An employee asked who they were and the man said he was a BYU alumnus. They were gone when police arrived.
Nov. 5: Fireworks were reported at Helaman Halls. By the time officers arrived, the suspects were gone.

Criminal mischief