By Alena Visnovsky and James Herold
GRCC custodian interferes with public defecation suspect
On June 15 2022, at 10:22 a.m., a Grand Rapids Community College custodial employee reported to the GRCC Police Department that someone had defecated on the sidewalk in front of the GRCC Spectrum Theater at 160 Fountain St NE. The incident occurred on the sidewalk near the northeast side of the building.
GRCC police interviewed a custodial employee who works at the Spectrum Theater and he said that at approximately midnight he was talking with another custodian near the northeast entrance of the theater and there was no feces there at the time. He was in the area again at approximately 5 a.m., and noticed there was feces just outside the door. He also noticed that there was some paperwork on the ground nearby. He told GRCC police that the person identified on the paperwork might be the person responsible. The paperwork was from Walgreens and appeared to be a prescription. The custodial employee said he cleaned up the feces but just wanted to let the police department know.
GRCC police checked the camera in the area but it did not cover the area where the incident happened. Checking the camera from midnight until 5 a.m., police did not see any suspicious people in the area.
Officers called a number listed on the paperwork. A woman answered the phone and police asked if they could speak with the woman who’s Walgreens paperwork was found. She said that the paperwork was hers and asked why the police were calling her. She said a guy from GRCC had just been to her house and talked to her about someone defecating in front of a building. She said he knocked on her door and asked her partner if she was around and if she had a good time and enjoyed herself the night before. She said the subject told them he just wanted to make sure she was ok.
The woman said her car was broken into the night before and her prescription paperwork was stolen. She said she wasn’t on GRCC’s campus at all the night before. GRCC police ended up meeting with her at her apartment and gave the paperwork to her and told her she would need to file a report with the Grand Rapids Police Department for the vehicle break-in and cleared the scene.
GRCC police also called the custodian and informed him it was inappropriate for him to contact anyone potentially involved in a criminal case. They also told him it was their job to follow up on criminal complaints and he needed to leave that work to the police. He apologized and said he never intended to interfere with their work, and said he was just checking to make sure the woman was ok.
This report is closed with no other known suspects or witnesses.
Around $100 in graffiti damages in GRCC Ramp A
On June 15 a GRCC operations employee contacted GRCC police regarding a series of graffiti incidents in the Parking Ramp A (Bostwick ramp).
Upon GRCC police arrival at 9:27 a.m. on June 15, the operations employee said he was notified of the graffiti by an Ellis parking employee. That Ellis parking employee said he spoke to a custodian who works on the fifth floor of Cook Academic Hall. The custodian had said that he saw three people in the construction area on the top of Ramp A and that they took off running when they heard him driving through that area. It’s unknown if those people were involved in the graffiti incidents.
GRCC police advised all second shift officers to patrol Ramp A in the latter part of their shift. The damage to the multiple areas, including walls, pillars, and an electrical box was valued at $100. The graffiti markings included an anarchy symbol, a crown, multiple distorted faces, and words. The incidents occurred between 11 a.m. on June 14 and 6 p.m. on June 15.
There are no other known suspects or witnesses to this incident and this case is closed with no further action needed.
