CAMPUS WATCH: Below is a summary of campus activity reported to or observed by the University Police Department patrol officers between Thursday, 03-15-07 and Friday, 03-16-07. * * * * LONGHORNS FIGHTING BACK * * * * * The University of Texas Police Department is proud to announce the FIRST 2007 Hungry For Justice recipient. This recipient will receive a FREE pizza of her choice. Congratulations. If you are interested in the Hungry For Justice program it is as simple as a telephone call away. If you observe a subject attempting to steal a bicycle and your telephone call leads to that persons arrest or apprehension the University of Texas Police Department will give you a FREE PIZZA. For more information on this or programs contact UT Crime Prevention at 232-9634 or 232-9638. The University of Texas Police Department is seeking your assistance in locating the owners of the following property that was taken in or around the San Jacinto Residence Hall: Blue GT mountain bicycle Silver Marin (Gary Fisher) mountain bicycle These bicycles were recovered after a theft suspect was taken into custody. PARKING LOT 37, 2200 Block Red River Burglary of Motor Vehicle: The driver's side window of a red Honda was discovered broken out. During the investigation, the owner stated that his Pioneer AM/FM/CD player was stolen. Loss value: $200.00. Occurred on: 3-15-07, between noon and 7:20 PM. O'HENRY HALL, 601 West 6th Street Public Intoxication: UT police officers observed a staggering subject that simply fall down. The subject did not move after falling. Officers detected a very strong odor of alcohol on the subject's breath. The subject did respond when the officer rubbed his chest with his knuckle. During the investigation, the officer asked the subject if he had been drinking. The subject replied," As you can see I've had too many." The subject was taken into custody for Public Intoxication and transported to Central Booking. Occurred on: 3-16-07, at 2:25 AM. SAN JACINTO RESIDENCE HALL, 309 East 21st Street Theft / Possession of Marijuana: A UT student observed a subject cutting a lock off of a bicycle located on the southwest side of the building. The student confronted the subject and the subject told the student that the bike belonged to him. The student went into the dormitory and contacted the UT Police Department. During the investigation, the officer discovered a second bicycle that was unsecured in the rack along with several cut bike locks. Others UT police officers were searching the area and observed a subject that matched the theft suspect's description riding a bicycle away from campus. The subject saw the marked police vehicle and attempted to avoid detection by entering an ally. The subject was stopped and officers soon discovered that the subject was concealing a pair of bolt cutters in his waist band. The subject was taken into custody and searched. Officer discovered a small amount of marijuana. The subject was transported to Central Booking. Both bicycles were impounded. Occurred on: 3-15-07, at 7:06 PM. 2300 BLOCK ROBERT DEDMAN Burglary of Motor Vehicle: The driver's side window of a red Ford Explorer was discovered broken out by a UT police officer. During the investigation, the owner was located and stated that her Fuji AM/FM/CD stereo was stolen. Loss value: $$250.00. Occurred on: 3-15-07, between 7:45 AM and 1:54 PM. 2300 BLOCK SPEEDWAY Public Intoxication: A non-UT subject was discovered passed out under a tree. The officer took several attempts to wake the subject up. The officer detected a very strong odor of alcohol on the subject's breath. During the investigation, the subject told the officer that he was lost and thought that he had gone to sleep near the Capitol. The subject stated that he was in town with several friends for the SXSW festival. The subject contacted a sober friend and was able to be released to him. Occurred on: 3-15-07, at 9:36 PM. Crime Prevention Tip of the Day: Today's tip is being provided by several Campus Watch subscribers. Yesterday we were talking about "cold calls" and what many of these callers are looking for. I received several good tips and tactics from subscribers that are thinking outside the box and fighting back: I have noticed of late that the "cold callers" who are calling for nefarious purposes are getting increasingly rude. I personally find it particularly satisfying to transfer unpleasant callers to the nearest fax machine. This is in response to the Campus Crime Watch tip from 03/15/07 concerning fraudulent cold calls. Back in the early ‘90s, toner scams were thriving, and our office was warned about giving out potentially sensitive information over the phone. I was the primary receptionist for our office, so I was getting quite a few of these calls. One day, I had yet another call from a particularly obnoxious repeat offender. I decided I’d had enough of this time-waster and it was time to exercise the full strength of my powers as gate-keeper for my people. I let the caller get about 20 seconds into her spiel, then interrupted to tell her I had another call coming in—would she please hold? I waited a minute or two, then retrieved the call. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. What were you saying again?” She started her spiel over. I let her get about 30 seconds into it, then interrupted again. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have a guest in the lobby. Would you please hold?” I didn’t wait for an answer but popped her on hold again. After a couple of minutes, I retrieved the call and apologized for the interruption, recapped a bit of her spiel, and asked her to continue. This time, I let her get all the way through her patter. Then I said, “Oh, gee, I’ll have to ask Mr. So-and-so about that. Can you hang on for a sec?” She was starting to feel the pain, but kept a rein on her impatience and agreed to hold. After a couple of seconds, I picked up the call again and told her that Mr. So-and-so was on his line, but I was sure he’d be free in a few seconds. Could she hold? Her veneer was starting to crack, but after I assured her again that I was certain he was clearing that line, she agreed to hold again. She must have REALLY wanted that information! CAMPUS WIDE: Non-Criminal Calls: In addition to the above criminal cases, The University of Texas Police Department responded to 25 alarm calls, 2 suspicious person calls, 5 suspicious activity calls, and 7 unsecured buildings between 03-15-07 and 03-16-07. Contact UT Police at 471-4441 if you have any information regarding any of the above incidents or call 911 regarding suspicious persons, suspicious activities or crime. Your call may help solve or prevent a crime. Campus Watch comments should be directed to Officer Darrell Halstead at 512-232-9634 or Darrell.halstead@austin.utexas.edu . Prepared by DWH To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit http://www.utexas.edu/police/campuswatch/subscribe.php
