The following information was obtained from UW-Eau Claire Police Department records.

Scholastic Skateboarder

While a UW-Eau Claire campus police officer was performing camera maintenance at the McIntyre Library, he noticed suspicious activity occurring in the 24-hour Maintenance Lobby,

In the early hours of the morning, a student could be seen on the camera feed skateboarding around the lobby of the library. At exactly 5:11 a.m. on Nov. 20, the student was also seen running from the library gated entrance toward Garfield Avenue. The subject initially had something in his hand, but when he ran towards the exit his hands were empty.

Later that morning, at about 10:30 a.m., a second officer met with the subject at a secondary office for the UW-Eau Claire Police Department located in Schneider Social Science Hall. The officer explained to the subject he was not under arrest and was free to leave at any time.

The officer spoke with the subject about the police department’s use of security cameras on campus property.  He told the subject an officer had seen him riding a skateboard inside McIntyre Library. The subject admitted to doing so, and said he was working on a class project. As as part of the project, the subject recorded himself riding the skateboard both inside and outside the building.

The officer explained to the subject this was unacceptable. The subject said he understood, and would no longer ride his skateboard in buildings. The officer then asked the subject about the object he was seen holding in the latter incident. The subject explained he was carrying a set of headphones in a plastic bag because it needed to be returned to the library by 7 a.m., and he ran out of the building because his car was parked at the base of the Garfield Avenue Hill.

The subject was cooperative throughout the contact with the officer. The officer again gave him a verbal warning, and then ended the conversation.

Second Offenses Result in Citations

At about 10:14 p.m. on Nov. 25, an officer was dispatched to Horan Hall for a drug case. Upon arrival to the lobby, he met with the resident assistant who had contacted the campus police department. The RA told the officer that earlier in the night she and another RA had noticed the smell of marijuana coming from within a room they had contacted due to a noise complaint. The RA also told the officer the department had already had contact with the room earlier in the semester.

The officer went to the resident’s room and checked the area. He could smell a mild odor of marijuana near the doorframe of the room, but could not detect the odor anywhere else in the surrounding area. The officer knocked on the door and a male subject answered. The officer identified himself and, upon receiving consent, entered the room.

Once inside the room the officer identified each of the four students who were present. Two were identified as residents of the room, with the other individuals being friends of the two. The officer also noted the odor of marijuana became stronger once he entered the room.

The officer explained he had received a complaint about the odor of marijuana coming from the room. He asked if there was any marijuana in the room, and each subject denied having any. The officer requested the individuals be cooperative and again asked if anyone had marijuana.

One of the residents of the room then admitted to having a pipe in the room, but again said he had no marijuana. Upon being asked, the subject retrieved the pipe and handed it to the officer. The officer then asked if any of the other individuals had anything drug related. The second resident said he also had a pipe, and retrieved it to give to the officer.

The residents denied having anything else in the room and, upon questioning, each individual in the room said they had not been smoking marijuana. Upon asking for consent, the office searched the room and one of the other individual’s backpack. He found a third pipe in one of the resident’s backpacks.

The residents, who were the owners of the pipes, had recently received diversions from a previous incident and had completed their diversion course earlier in the month. The two failed to remain offense free for 30 days after their diversion date. Because of this, the two were each issued a $326.50 citation for the Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and a mandatory court date.

The officer provided them with a blue payment envelope and explained the citations. He said they would likely receive enforcement action in the near future in regard to their prior diversions. The officer then answered the subjects’ questions and left the building.

Kopke can be reached at [email protected].