Last week, the UW-Eau Claire Police Department had cases involving day drinking, theft of a street sign and a crash in the Schneider Parking Lot in this week’s installment of the Police Blotter.

Day Drinking

Campus police received a call around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16 that reported two homeless individuals were laying on the ground adjacent to field six, consuming alcoholic beverages and appearing intoxicated.

When the officer arrived at the scene they observed 8-10 crushed beer cans on the ground and a 12-pack of Natural Ice beer on the ground next to the two individuals. 

The officer informed the subjects of the ordinance against open containers and they said they were unaware of this.

The subjects confirmed that they were homeless and staying in Hobbs Ice Arena.

Both subjects were compliant with the officer and picked up their empty cans and left the field.

Street Sign Burglary

At around 1 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, a student patrol officer reported two individuals who were walking on the footbridge carrying a stolen “No Parking” sign.

Student patrol officers are student employees with the UW-Eau Claire Police Department who patrol on foot around campus and report any illegal or dangerous situations to officers.

The student patrol officer called a UW-Eau Claire officer to the scene, who then asked the subjects about their possession of the stolen sign.

The subjects told the officer they had found the sign on the ground and decided to take it. When the officer asked for the location of the stolen sign, the subjects said they had found the sign at the intersection of 2nd Ave. and Niagara St.

The campus police officer called the Eau Claire Area Police Department to the scene for the reported theft. 

While waiting for the ECAPD to arrive, the officer noticed that both subjects’ eyes were glossy and their speech was slurred. The officer removed their mask to smell the subjects’ breath and reported that it smelled of intoxicants.

Once the ECAPD officer arrived, the subjects admitted to drinking off-campus.

The ECAPD officer said they would take enforcement action for the drinking in lieu of enforcement for stealing the street sign.

The students rode with the ECAPD officer to confirm the location of the stolen street sign and it was returned to the proper location.

Parking Lot Crash

Around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, an officer received a call about a crash that occurred in the Schneider Parking Lot.

Both vehicles were on the scene when the officer arrived, along with an employee from UW-Eau Claire Parking and Transportation.

It appeared that a white Honda Civic had rolled out of a parking space and hit a black Pontiac G6.

When the officer examined the vehicle they noticed that the Civic’s gear shifter had been left in drive.

The owner of the Civic eventually arrived at the scene and was apologetic. She stated that the vehicle allows her to remove her keys without putting the vehicle in park.

She said she must have been in a hurry and forgot to put the vehicle in park, causing it to roll out of the spot and hit the other vehicle.

The crash was unreportable due to the small amount of damage, as there were only small scratches on the bumpers.

Both students were licensed drivers and their vehicles were insured.

Janssen can be reached at [email protected].