Posts filed under 'Crime'
Ann Arbor police offer reward for information in abduction cases
By Kelly Fraser, written on Sep. 3, 2008
Correction Appended: The Ann Arbor Police Department has revised the description of the suspect.
Police are still searching for a man suspected of trying to abduct two female joggers in separate incidents near campus Sunday night.
The Ann Arbor Police Department is now offering up to a $1,000 reward to anyone with information in the connection to the attacks.
The attacks occurred about an hour apart — at 8:30 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., respectively — in the area of Packard Street and Independence Boulevard.
Both joggers were able to fight the attacker off, and escaped with minor injures.
Police suspect that the same man is behind both attacks.
Both women provided similar physical descriptions of the man: a white male about 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, 25 to 45 years old, with a medium build, facial stubble, graying dark hair a missing or chipped front tooth and a hairy chest.
In the first incident, the attacker was wearing navy blue swim trunks with an orange band and no shirt.
In the second incident, the attacker was wearing blue jeans and a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt.
Anyone with information in the case should call the AAPD tip line at (734) 996-3199.
Crime of enthusiasm cut embarassingly short
By thesara, written on Jul. 28, 2008
The joke’s on you, Spencer Taylor.
Dressed in a purple suit and face paint resembling the Joker’s character from the newest Batman film, the 20-year old man of Three Rivers, Michigan thought he had found a way to score Batman swag from the lobby of his local movie theatre last Sunday morning.
Taylor may have thought the infamy of the character’s costume would grant him the anonymity and immunity that it did for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Unfortunately for him and a small, bemused audience, he failed to emulate the celebrated maniac and was taken away by police.
In a hurry, Manager of the Three Rivers 6 cinema Brian Willoughby tells the story:
“He tried to steal a wall banner and tore a poster case off the wall,” he said. “I wrestled him to the ground and called the police on him.”
After making him wash his face, Three Rivers police slapped Taylor with charges for felony larceny and malicious destruction of property. Check out the full story, and before and after face-paint pictures, from the Kalamazoo Gazette.
Former student scales The New York Times building
By Charles Gregg-Geist, written on Jul. 10, 2008
University alumni like to call themselves “the leaders and best,” but when 29-year-old David Malone climbed 11 stories up the outside of The New York Times Building early yesterday morning, he was the third person to pull the stunt. And he didn’t even reach the roof!
In all fairness, Malone isn’t actually an alum — he dropped out because the University didn’t offer enough classes on Al Qaeda, he said. That same focus on the international terrorist organization is what motivated him to climb the building. Malone apparently wants to raise awareness about the threat Al Qaeda poses to the country, and so waved a banner reading “Bin Laden’s Plan” from the Times Building’s 11th story. That’s the title of a book he self-published in 2005 about the terrorist threat.
Malone’s climb was reported to police around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. They blocked off streets, positioned a large inflatable cushion on the street underneath Malone, and tried to coax him down, but the only person he wanted to speak to was Jill Coffey, a night editor at the New York Daily News. Police eventually got Malone to come down at around 5:20 a.m. by promising him an interview with Coffey.
He got the idea for the climb as a publicity stunt after two men climbed to the roof of the building June 5. The first was raising awareness about the health hazards of global warming; the second man, about malaria.
So what’s the result of Malone’s early-morning climb? Well, his mental health is being evaluated, and he’s been charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, making graffiti, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. Jill Coffey had a late night. The New York Times Company is removing at least some of the avant garde bars that grace the side of their building andwhich the three men have used like rungs on a ladder for their hijinks. And the University’s gotten some publicity it probably doesn’t really want.
Where do you think Malone places on the University’s list of eccentric former students?
Other possible uses for the Athletic Department’s $2.5 million check to West Virginia University
By Andy Kroll, written on Jul. 10, 2008
The Rich Rodriguez-WVU-He-said-She-said saga ended today with Rodriguez, his lawyers and the University of Michigan agreeing to pay the $4 million buyout clause in Rodriguez’s contract with WVU.
According to reports, Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million of the clause in three annual payments of $500,000 beginning in January 2010. The remaining $2.5 million—along with Rodriguez’s attorney fees—will be paid by the University’s Athletic Department in a single payment made by the end of July.
Below are a few examples of what $2.5 million could’ve paid for had the Athletic Department (whose funds, remember, are independent of the University’s general fund) not covered Rodriguez’s fees and over half of the buyout clause…
The Athletic Department prides itself on the fact that it often gives money out of its own coffers to the University’s general fund, which provides financial aid to University students, among other things.
Had the Athletic Department saw fit to invest that $2.5 million in the futures of University students and not in the ugly past of its football coach, it would’ve covered (according to figures from the University’s Office of Financial Aid) tuition and fees, room and board, books and personal expenses for 113 undergraduate in-state students.
That same $2.5 million would’ve covered those same costs for 58 undergraduate out-of-state students.
Not that there aren’t uses for $2.5 million within the Athletic Department.
That money could’ve lowered football season tickets for students—or anyone buying football tickets for that matter. That money could’ve gone to help fund any number of facilities upgrade projects, like the much needed renovations at Crisler Arena. It could’ve been seed money to help endow the successful men’s lacrosse team. It could’ve endowed individual athletics scholarships for any number of Michigan teams. It might have even helped do away with the loathed preferred seating program at the Big House in which some football season ticket holders have to make an annual donation each year on top of the cost of their tickets just to keep their seats.
And so on and so forth. You get the point. The possibilities that spring to mind for how $2.5 million could’ve been better spent are endless. These are only a few. Do you have any of your own?
Local resourcefulness hits new low
By thesara, written on Jul. 9, 2008
Ann Arbor criminals may be catching on to a dated trend in metal theft.
A square cast-iron streethole cover is missing from Division Street near Ann Street. Next to it, a heavier and more difficult-to-steal storm drain lays in wait, defenseless.
Police Seargeant Ed Stuck said that street hole cover thefts aren’t a problem in Ann Arbor.
“You’d have to be pretty strong and have some horsepower to steal a manhole cover,” he said. “It could be missing for any reason.”
Stuck said that heavy rains can sometimes back up, flood and carry away street hole covers. Though he wasn’t sure what happened to this one, he said he would send a patrol car to try and find out.
“If there’s an open hole, it probably should be rectified,” he said.
Part of me fears that local copper thieves are growing more creative, taking us down the path of some areas where civilians are in danger of falling into manholes during afternoon strolls.
For now, just be careful not to sprain your ankle.
Two crimes Sunday on Fourth Avenue
By thesara, written on Jul. 7, 2008
Keep in mind these Downtown Ann Arbor “don’ts”: walking alone at midnight or jaywalking with a ‘tude.
Two unrelated attacks occurred Sunday on Fourth Avenue, the first on a woman unaffilated with the University who was walking home from Beer Depot on a cigarette run.
Two men approached her from behind, covered her mouth, stole her purse and ran away, said the Ann Arbor News.
Though at first the suspects were described in detail–a thin man, about 5′3, between the ages of 18 and 25 wearing dark clothing and a 6-foot-tall man of the same age with a red baseball cap and T-Shirt–the details have grown fuzzy, said Ann Arbor Police Sergeant Brad Hill.
“She is not sure that she can I.D. them, apparently her story changed a couple times,” he said, adding that the suspect was not confident prosecuting because it was too dark to distinguish the features of her attackers. “We’re still looking at it, of course.”
Slightly less innocent is the Ypsilanti man who cut across Fourth Avenue and succumed to the provocation of two men passing in a red pickup truck. The drivers stopped and told the pedestrian to stay out of the street.
“He said he could do what he wanted,” said Hill of the jaywalker’s refusal to show remorse. “He can’t remember his exact words, but did acknowledge that he may have used racial slurs.”
The suspect said the two men then exited the pickup, knocked him down, punched him, got back into their truck and drove away.
“They assaulted him for that or whatever reason,” Hill said. “(We’re) still investigating that one.”
Officers dispatched to the scene around 8:30 p.m. said that the man had scratches and bruises but refused medical treatment.
University of Minnesota student auctions vote on eBay
By admin, written on Jul. 6, 2008
Have no idea who you are going to vote for in the upcoming election? Don’t really care either way? Figure you probably won’t be using your vote? Well . . . just don’t put it up for sale on eBay or you might be left with an expensive fine or even jail time.
Max Sanders, a 19-year-old student from the University of Minnesota, did just that and may soon face the consequences – up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
On May 28, Sanders created an eBay auction, with a starting bid of $10, for one of America’s most fundamental freedoms, his right to vote. The ad read:
“I am having trouble deciding who to vote for in the Presidential Election, so I am putting my vote up for sale. I am a legal resident of the state of Minnesota, and I am 19 years old. I am legally allowed to vote, and I have already voted in one previous election. The rules are simple, the highest bigger will tell me who to cast my vote for in the election. I will vote for any candidate of any party, as long as they are on the ballot. If the highest bidder so chooses, I will also abstain from voting, if that is what they so choose. To prove that I will actually vote for the candidate of the highest bidder’s choice, I will photograph myself inside the voting booth with my filled out ballot. Good luck! You’re [sic] country depends on You!”
The listing – which ran for one week and ended on June 4 – received little attention from actual eBay customers.
No one voted.
And if anyone had decided to purchase Sanders’ vote for the 2008 Presidential election they too could have potentially faced similar consequences under a 1893 Minnesota law that makes it a crime to knowingly buy or sell a vote.
Marijuana found at Matthaei Botanical Gardens
By admin, written on Jul. 6, 2008
The University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens claim to be about “connecting people with nature.” It appears that someone took their claim a little too seriously.
Volunteers at the gardens, located off Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor Township, found 5 plants suspected to be marijuana growing on the grounds Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
University of Michigan police responded around 11 a.m. and confiscated the suspicious plants, each measuring about a foot tall, and plan to dispose of them.
In February, U-M police confiscated 11 plants believed to be cannabis from inside the greenhouse. The plants, found by an employee monitoring a biology course’s research, turned out not to be marijuana.
Police currently have no leads on the case but plan on questioning those who have access to the grounds to find suspects.
North Campus Brick Thief Is Now Behind Bars
By admin, written on Jul. 3, 2008
The man who hauled off with 5,000 pounds of bricks from the Duderstadt Media Union Building on North Campus over the weekend is now behind bars at the Washtenaw County Jail.
Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown told the Ann Arbor news that the culprit was a 43-year-old Toledo man. Police in Inkster arrested him after he sold some of the stolen goods to a local scrap metal shop.
After the University issued a crime alert to metal shops throughout southeast Michigan, Brown told the Ann Arbor News that the Inkster metal shop got in contact with the University to notify them that had some of the 200 stolen bricks valued at $10 each.
Police finally made the arrest after the man returned to the same metal shop the following day to sell more of the painted blue bricks that were originally intended to shield radiation.
Brown told the Ann Arbor News that the University has plans to press charges against the thief.
After shootings, LSU text messaging alert system malfunctions
By Chris Herring, written on Dec. 18, 2007
After two Lousiana State University students were shot and killed last week, campus officials there sent out emergency alert messages to more than 8,000 students. But many students never received the alert. (The Chronicle of Higher Education article)
Following the shootings that took place last year at Virginia Tech, many schools have implemented emergency text messaging systems to notify students when security issues arise. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe said there was a technical malfunction that stopped many of the 8,000-plus LSU students from getting the message. At LSU and other schools, students can sign up with campus police to be notified via text message when emergencies occur.
Here at the University of Michigan, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown has told The Michigan Daily on two occasions that the University has no immediate plans to implement a text messaging alert system.