Police assist students in jumping dead car 

As the cold continues to move in, it continues to impact the cars left sitting in the school parking lots. An officer at approximately 5:05 p.m. on Feb. 10 was doing a routine patrol through the Oak Ridge parking lot when they saw a blue Ford Fusion with the hood up and people gathered around.

The officer made a stop to ask the group if everything was okay or if they were in need of assistance. 

Taking the officer up on the offer, the group stopped attempting to jump start the car using a handheld jumper box and switched to a set of jumper cables instead. 

The officer had then asked if they wanted to connect their battery to another car, and with permission, the officer proceeded to help. After retrieving the jumper cables from the squad car, it was connected to both batteries, but the car still did not start. 

The group was asked if there was another car they could try since the blue Ford Fusion was still unable to start. Another person from the group offered to use their car, but again, the blue Ford Fusion would not turn over. 

The officer then advised that the car needed to be looked at and asked if a tow truck needed to be called. The owner of the car told the officer no, but thanked them for stopping to assist in the situation. 

After gathering information, the officer left the scene.

Vehicle “brake” in 

An officer was contacted and dispatched by the Communication Center to reach out to the victim of a reported theft case in the Oak Ridge parking lot around 9:43 p.m. on Feb. 12.

The officer made their way over to the UW-Eau Claire Police Department where the victim was reached using an office phone. 

The person talking over the phone to the officer said the car was parked in the Oak Ridge lot around 8 p.m. on Jan. 8 in the furthest row away, closer to HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital.

They then informed the officer that when going out to their car around 5:45 p.m. Feb. 12, that their car made loud noises when it was trying to start. 

Not knowing what the sound was, they reached out to a friend who was going to try and help figure out what the noise might have been. The contact had a father who was a mechanic and offered to look at the car.

Upon evaluation, the owner of the car was told her catalytic converter was cut and removed from the car. 

The officer had then recorded the information of the owner’s car, and asked if they were going to return to campus. They told the officer they planned to go out of town until sometime the next day. 

Offering some advice, the officer told the owner that they should fill out the victim information form, loss/damages form and written statement available via the UW-Eau Claire Police Department’s website. 

They told the officer that they would complete the forms and email them to the Department’s email.

The owner of the car gave the police their insurance information as well as a statement that she did not give anyone permission to take anything out of her car. No other damages had been recorded. 

After researching the specification of the make and model of the car with the officer, they found that a replacement piece would cost around $259.99. 

The last piece of information the officer asked was if the owner knew anything else about what happened, where they then answered no, and the officer cleared the scene.

Huettner can be reached at [email protected].