By Jamie Miller
Editor’s note: Coverage of campus police reports has been delayed due to the Grand Rapids Community College Police Department now requiring The Collegiate to file a Freedom of Information Act request in order to obtain reports.
Breaking and entering near Ramp A on Bostwick Avenue
On Monday, Nov. 25 at 6:08 a.m. a Grand Rapids Community College police officer was dispatched to the south side of parking Ramp A at Bostwick Avenue on a report of breaking and entering. Upon arrival, the officer made contact with the facilities manager near the electrical storage room, the manager advised him that on Nov. 24 at 11:30 a.m. he noticed the gates to the storage room were closed and undamaged. Later that day, at 9:45 p.m., a custodian noticed the gates wide open and the locking mechanism to the gate damaged. Upon checking the gates the officer noticed the gray locking mechanism to the gate had been damaged, and the lock had been broken off and was lying on the floor on the south side of the gates. A galvanized four-foot-long metal pipe was lying on the north side of the gate with a broken light bulb on top of a metal pole near the gate was also visible. Upon entering the storage area itself the officer noticed the doors to a cabinet wide open, a roll of electrical wire was on the ground nearby and it looked as if rolls of wire were missing though the manager was unable to confirm this. Upon reviewing the security footage with another officer he noticed at 11:52 p.m. an unidentifiable white SUV pulled up.The suspect pulled his sweatshirt hood up and covered his face right before he entered the ramp. He appeared to be a six-foot-tall white male dressed in blue jeans, red, gray and black sweater and grey sweatshirt. When he left the area he looked to be carrying a roll of black electrical wire. However, despite talking to both the Grand Rapids Library manager and a Rapid Bus manager to review their camera feeds near the location of the crime the officers have been unable to locate the suspect.
The estimated cost to repair the gate is $1,270.
Trespassing at Bostwick Avenue Parking Ramp A
On Monday, Nov 25. at 9:04 a.m. an officer was on mobile patrol in the Bostwick Avenue parking ramp when he was flagged down by a student who informed the officer that there was a person sleeping in the stairwell of the ramp on level four. Upon arriving, the officer located the man getting up from the ground where he appeared to have been sleeping. The man identified himself to the officer and stated he came into the ramp to rest. The officer asked the man if he had any previous contact with GRCC Police, which the man said he did not. The man also stated he did not have any warrants out for his arrest, which a file check confirmed. The officer then asked the man if he had been in the ramp at all that past weekend. Upon getting confirmation from the man, the officer informed him they were currently investigating a break-in at the ramp. The man immediately denied any involvement in the break-in. The officer would let the man go with a warning that if he was caught there again he could be arrested for trespassing.
Property damage at Bostwick Ave Ramp A
On Monday, Nov. 25 at 4:11 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the sixth level of parking Ramp A on a report of property damage, upon arriving, the officer met with an Ellis Parking employee. The employee was standing next to a broken card reader. The card reader functioned however the bolts holding the actual card reader itself in place were broken. After looking through the security footage the officer managed to find the license plate number of the car which did the damage. The next day the officer was able to make contact with the driver via phone call, the driver said she knew she hit something but didn’t know what and agreed to pay for the damages.
The police report did not specify the value of the damage.
Child porn reported on IP address traced to GRCC
On Monday, Dec. 2 at 9:38 a.m. a GRCCPD officer received a phone call from a detective at the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department. The detective informed the officer that during an investigation into a child pornography case he had discovered that photos shared by the suspect had an IP address leading back to GRCC. The detective stated the photos were shared on June 11 and requested assistance in getting into contact with the college’s IT department. Later that same day the officer emailed an IT department employee and asked if he would be able to locate where the address was and who may have used it. However, the employee informed the officer that GRCC systems only store records for 90 days so the information would not be available from June. The officer left the detective a voicemail informing him of the situation. The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department is continuing to investigate the case and no further information is available at this time.
Gate runner at Bostwick Ave
On Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 1:42 p.m. an officer was informed of a blue Toyota Camry managing to run the student exit gate without paying, upon reviewing the footage the officer was able to find the footage of the Camry tailgating a white Chevrolet Impala out of the gate without paying at 1:26 p.m.. The officer made contact with the driver over the phone, who changed his story multiple times, first saying at first he was on his phone, had his music loud and there was a woman he didn’t see, then that he didn’t have his wallet or RaiderCard on him. The officer stated that he had the man on camera gate running at least five times and that he would need to come into the GRCC PD to fill out a gate runner form, which the man did the next day and later paid the $12 fine on Dec 6.
Larceny at Lyon Street
On Saturday, Dec. 7 at 12:47 p.m. a man walked into the police department to file a larceny report. The man stated that at 9 a.m. he parked his vehicle in parking Ramp A on level six. He stated he thought his vehicle was locked when he left but one of the doors must not have been. When he returned at 12:30 p.m. and attempted to leave the lot he was unable to find his debit card. He said he remembered going to McDonalds and purchasing food before arriving at GRCC, stating that he had wrapped his debit card in the receipt and threw it in the passenger’s seat and forgot to put it back in his wallet before he left his vehicle. While looking for it, he got a text on his phone stating that the card had been used at the Popular Demand store in Byron Center. The officer noted the Popular Demand store is in Wyoming, and the purchase was for $275.60. The man immediately called Genisys Credit Union and had his card canceled. The man also told the officer his girlfriend had left $15 in the center console which was also stolen but other than that nothing else had been stolen. The officer told the man he would check the security footage to see who had possibly broken into his vehicle. Upon reviewing the footage officers noticed at 11:26 a.m. a man entering the parking ramp on level six, the suspect first walked up to a grey vehicle parked next to the vehicle which was reportedly broken into. The suspect first walked to the drivers side but failed to get in, then went to the passengers side and was able to get in. He would exit the grey vehicle, which did not appear to have been reported as stolen from, before entering the reported vehicle. The suspect left this vehicle and attempted to break into several vehicles though he proved unable. He then left the ramp through the exit entrance and headed south on Fountain Street. The suspect appeared to be a Black male with a thin build, around 6 feet tall and looked to weigh about 165 pounds. He was wearing brown boots, blue jeans, a black Northface jacket and carrying a black Adidas duffle bag. Officers would later go to the Rivertown Mall to review their security footage for possible sightings of the suspect at Popular Demand. At 12:34 p.m. on the footage from Dec. 7 the suspect can be seen buying a pair of pants for $275.60, the officers requested that mall security send a photo of the suspect to GRCC officers email.
Bicycle stolen from Bostwick Ave
On Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 12:50 p.m. a GRCC student came into the GRCC police department to report a stolen bike. He stated he had placed his bike on the bike rack on the south end of the Bostwick Commons sometime in August though he wasn’t sure of the exact date. He told the officer he spoke to that he secured the bike via a locking device and would drive to campus and use the bike to get around campus. He told the officer that on Nov. 10 he noticed his bike missing and thought that the GRCC police department had taken it for some reason so he wasn’t in a hurry to report it. He specified that he thought that the police had a master key to all bike locks and he could simply retrieve his bike from them at any time. The officer informed the man that they didn’t remove locked bikes and did not have his bike but would document his information and alert him if they located a bike matching the description of his.
