Being a parking employee: the new spooky

An officer was dispatched early Wednesday morning to the Phillips Hall parking lot in response to a report of a suspicious person walking through a row of vehicles. 

On the way to the parking lot, the officer made contact with the complainant. The complainant said they saw a male subject who was approximately six feet tall, in a black and maroon sweatshirt with a hood up, looking into parked cars. They said they did not see the male pulling on the door handles. 

The officer explained to the complainant that this may have been a parking employee, but would search for the male subject anyways.

Upon arrival at the Phillips Hall parking lot, the officer noticed a male matching the description made by the complainer. The officer noticed the male had parking equipment on his hip and told the male they had received a call from a concerned student. 

The officer told the male the student believed he was trying to find cars to break into. They then verified the male was a parking employee, answered any questions the male had and cleared the scene. 

Rerouting part two: Garfield Avenue or Hilltop?

Back in Sept. 2019, a semi truck driver had been trying to navigate to Interstate 94, but their navigation instead led them to Garfield Ave. on lower campus, outside of Putnam Hall. A similar event took place this week at the bottom of the Garfield Ave. hill. 

An officer encountered a Sysco semi truck and trailer facing eastbound outside of Putnam Hall. The driver identified themself with a Wisconsin driver’s license and said they were attempting to get to Hilltop Center. 

The driver said they thought they could take this route, but realized the semi could not go up the Garfield Ave. hill. The driver was unable to back out and requested the officer’s assistance in turning around.

The officer said that, due to class change, the driver would have to wait about 15 minutes before making an attempt to avoid injuring any students. 

Once the pedestrian traffic was minimal, the officer assisted by blocking pedestrians and vehicle traffic as the driver pulled onto the pedestrian mall. The driver then backed up the Garfield Ave. hill and proceeded to exit on Putnam Drive toward Phillips Hall. 

No other information was given at the time.

She doesn’t even go here

An officer was dispatched to Towers Circle after receiving a complaint of an “irate” female screaming. 

The communication center said a female had called them yelling about a theft of medication. She yelled that someone had left in a blue car and then hung up the phone.

The officer responded to the area, but was not able to locate the caller. The officer saw a Jefferson Lines bus leaving the area. The communication center said based on the background noise, the subject had possibly boarded the bus.

The officer turned around and conducted a traffic stop on the Jefferson Line bus along the 900 Block of University Drive.

The officer made contact with the driver who confirmed a female had been yelling and screaming outside, but had entered the bus and was calming down. 

The officer boarded the bus and observed a female seated on the bus a few rows from the door. The female began ranting about her medication, drunk drivers and how police do not do their jobs when the officer made contact with her. 

The officer said to the woman they could step off the bus and talk if she wished, but they were not going to hold up a bus full of people. The female said she did not want to report anything and did not want to talk to the officer. 

The female said she had called the police and felt the officer should go out and find this blue car and gave no further information. 

The female held a canceled driving status, had a previous history of disorderly conduct, but no wants. The officer explained to the female that she could be arrested if she began to yell and scream again.  

The officer told the bus driver to call 911 if the female began to act up again, and the driver said he would. 

No other information was given at the time.

Dirks can be reached at [email protected].