By Chelsea LoCascio
News Editor
• Campus Police said they saw a pickup truck in the construction parking lot on Carlton Avenue while on patrol at the Carlton Avenue Extension and Pennington Road traffic light intersection on Sunday, Feb. 7, at 1:15 p.m. With a “No Trespassing” sign at the entrance, the lot is reserved for the College’s construction workers, Campus Police said. The officer saw that the vehicle was unoccupied and called for backup to search the property, which is surrounded by a wooded area, according to Campus Police. The cop approached the vehicle to find a hard gun case and a soft crossbow case in the back seat of the vehicle, according to police reports. Police witnessed a man wearing a camouflage jacket and pair of pants walking in the woods toward an open field. There was a Parker Tornado F4 Crossbow hanging from a rope on a tree stand and feed corn spread out around the stand along with two 100-pound feed corn bags that were stuffed into a hollow part of a nearby tree, police said. According to police reports, the man had to retrieve his hunting license from his backpack when police asked to see it. The police had to confirm that the man had trespassed on the College’s property before charging him with criminal trespass. Additional charges included unlawful hunting on a Sunday, not having a deer hunting license visible on his outer clothing and littering.
• On Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 9:30 a.m., Campus Police investigated unpaid parking tickets issued to a vehicle. To do so, police met the vehicle’s owner at the College’s Police Headquarters to talk about an immobilizer valued at $199.95. The item was placed on the vehicle on Monday, Oct. 12, and was no longer on it at the time of the meeting, according to police reports. The police inquired about the immobilizer’s whereabouts and the student admitted that it was in the trunk of his car parked in Lot 13, Campus Police said. The officer transported the student to Lot 13 to retrieve the undamaged immobilizer. Police charged the student with theft and issued a summons to appear before the Ewing Township Municipal Court, police said. Campus Police released the student from their custody at 11:17 a.m. after advising him to pay $350 for his tickets.
• Campus Police met a student on Monday, Feb. 15, at 2:10 p.m. at the College’s Police Headquarters to confirm that an immobilizer, which police had placed on his vehicle parked in the Loser Hall Visitor Lot on Tuesday, Dec. 8, was removed without authorization. The student did not tell the police the immobilizer’s location, and according to Campus Police, the device is valued at $199.95. The student was charged with theft and was issued a summons to appear before the Ewing Township Municipal Court, according to police reports. The student owes $775 in parking tickets, but was released from police custody at 3:30 p.m., police said.
• Campus Police met with a victim of theft at the College’s Police Headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Her phone was taken by an unknown suspect in Lot 5 between 9:00 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., according to police reports. The victim had lost her phone after exiting her friend’s vehicle, and searched the area after thinking the phone fell out of her pocket. She used the tracking device on a friend’s phone and the phone appeared to still be in Lot 5, but it was shut off when she called it. The pink iPhone 5C had her student ID attached to the back and was valued at $200 in total, Campus Police said.
• A student lost his wallet between 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5, and 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10, police said. He went to the College’s Police Headquarters to report his missing wallet, which he last remembered having on Friday, Feb. 5, at 10:30 p.m. when he went to RedBerry Frozen Yogurt in Campus Town, according to police reports. The student said that after leaving RedBerry, he walked through lots 4 and 5 to the sidewalk between the Brower Student Center construction site and the football field in order to get to Travers Hall, Campus Police said. He went home on Saturday, Feb. 6, and did not notice his wallet was missing until February 10 at 1:30 p.m., according to police reports. He checked his room in Travers Hall as well as around RedBerry and the Brower Student Center, but did not find it. The wallet, valued at $80, contained $40 in cash, a red Wells Fargo debit card, a New Jersey driver’s license, an East Brunswick library card and a health insurance card.
• Campus Police responded to a call from the Chemistry Building on Monday, Feb. 15, at 12:50 p.m. Police said they arrived at the Science Complex to investigate the fire alarm and saw people evacuating the building. Upon entering the building, police witnessed a large amount of water flowing from the ceiling on the northeast side, where the Chemistry and Biology buildings connect. They also saw a sprinkler head attached to a pipe laying on the ground beneath the water flow, according to police reports. Multiple Facilities employees from the Plumbing Shop, Electrical Shop and Heating and Air Conditioning Shop responded to a request for help from the police. The residual water leaked through the ceiling of the basement and affected rooms 100A, 101 to 106, 122A and 121 in the Chemistry Building. Students left some of their backpacks and laptop bags in room 121 as they were initially exiting the area, but Campus Police moved their belongings onto desks, police said. The police escorted people back into their rooms to retrieve their belongings. The company Unlimited Restoration was contacted to clean up the residual water and the College cancelled all classes in the Chemistry Building that were scheduled to meet 1:30 p.m. and after. Campus Police believe that the flood was due to the cold weather condition’s effect on the pipes. According to College spokesperson Dave Muha, there was a break in the sprinkler line resulting from the pipes freezing.
• Campus Police responded to an activated fire alarm in Wolfe Hall at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 15. Upon arrival, police saw and heard the alarms going off, but did not see a fire. Campus Police responded to a first floor dorm room occupied by one of the Residential Education and Housing employees. The employee told police he was in the shower and came out to find water pouring from the ceiling, according to police reports. Campus Police said Electrical Shop, Plumbing Shop and Building Services employees aided in resetting the alarm and cleaning up the water. According to Campus Police and Muha, students were allowed to reenter Wolfe Hall sometime between 7:25 a.m. and 7:40 a.m. Muha said a part of the first floor sprinkler system was being filled and the flood resulted from an open valve in a mechanical closet. According to Campus Police, Wolfe Hall was evacuated from 2:40 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. due to an unrelated issue with the smoke detectors.
Anyone with information can contact Campus Police at 609-771-2345.
