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.
By Jamie Miller
Intrusion alarm tripped at Fulton Street
On Saturday, Jan. 18, at 1:04 a.m. Engineered Protection Systems contacted the on-call pager of an officer, stating that there had been an intrusion alarm at the Grand Rapids Community College Administrative Building on Fulton Street. The officer informed EPS he would respond and attempted to contact the GRCC Police Department via voicemail; however, the voicemail was not set up, so he emailed the GRCC dispatcher and sergeant to let them know he was en route. Upon arriving, the officer was unable to find any signs of forced entry or damage to that effect. The officer then badged the main entrance where the alarm was already armed. The officer disarmed it and cleared the building, making sure there was no one inside. The officer then rearmed the alarm and left, notifying GRCC PD dispatch that the building was clear via email.
Car crash at Bostwick Ave
On Thursday, Jan. 3, at 9:41 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the intersection of Lyon Street North East and Bostwick Avenue to investigate a report of a property damage accident involving a Rapid transit bus and a black vehicle. Upon arriving, the officer made contact with both uninjured drivers, managing to move both vehicles off the roadway to begin his investigation. The officer was able to determine that the black vehicle, a GMC Acadia, was driving westbound on Lyon Street and was unable to stop at a stop sign, causing the crash with the bus.
Threatening email sent to staff member
On Thursday, Jan. 23, at 11:56 a.m., an officer met with a GRCC staff member on account of a series of threatening emails he had been receiving. According to the staff member, the emails were being sent by a man who used to be a sound technician for the staff member’s band. Their relationship, however, was strained after the technician broke up with his fiance and his mental health started to deteriorate. The staff member told the officer that there was a fallout in the band that led to litigation and finally a gentleman’s agreement between all parties to not contact each other again, separate from it. The staff member stated the technician, however, has never followed this agreement and regularly sends the members scathing emails, with the most recent being received on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 10:55 a.m. Though the staff member thought the tone of the email was extremely dark and disturbing, he allowed the officer to read the email which, among other things, encouraged him to hurt himself and to extort $25,000 for the band to avoid “pending legal doom.” The officer asked the staff member if it came to his GRCC email, to which the staff member said it came to one of his old unused emails, which automatically forwards to his GRCC email. The officer was able to determine the last threat to the staff member by the technician was made over two years prior on Monday, Nov. 14 2022. The staff member further stated that he had already made threat reports to the Grand Rapids Police Department in regards to the technician but also decided to make a report in person. The staff member also elected to scrub his profile from the GRCC employee directory in order to better evade the technician. The officer advised that if the staff member sees the former sound technician on campus, to contact them immediately and not to confront him.
College property damaged at Ramp B
On Friday, Jan. 24, at 11:19 a.m., an officer was patrolling parking Ramp B at Lyon Street when he noticed that one of the barrier cables was hanging in an unusual way. Upon further inspection, the officer noted that the cable was still connected on both sides but was very loose and hanging. When the officer pulled on one side he determined it was not connected inside the concrete and could be pulled completely out. The officer sent an email to the Associate Director of Operations/Grounds to make him aware of the damage so that it can be repaired.
Laptop reported stolen from Mel-Trotter’s
On Monday, Jan. 27, at 11:06 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the Financial Aid Office on a report of a stolen laptop. The student involved had five previous contacts with GRCC PD for disorderly-type situations. The officer arrived and made contact with the student who stated he had checked out a laptop two to three weeks ago from the GRCC library and was using the laptop at the Mel-Trotter’s homeless shelter when the laptop was stolen. He said this occurred the previous day between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and further stated that he had reported the incident to GRPD. He then complained that no one would do anything about it, that there were cameras at Mel-Trotter’s but that the employees refused to check them. The officer explained to him that he would have to take that up with GRPD and Mel-Trotter’s, as the incident happened off campus and the officer was only taking this report as an assist and would not handle the investigation. The student said he had talked to someone at the library who stated they would not give him another computer, as it was the second computer he had checked out that had been stolen. This was confirmed by the officer who followed up with the GRCC library.
Car door damaged at Ramp A
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m., a GRCC student entered the police station to report damage to her vehicle that occurred on level 1 of parking Ramp A at Bostwick Avenue the previous day. She told the officer that she had been sitting in her parked 2017 Toyota RAV4 at 5:52 p.m., waiting for her friend, when a short white female got out of the Ford Fusion parked next to her. This woman opened the rear passenger door of her Fusion, slamming into the RAV4’s rear driver-side door, which caused two small scratches. In the report, the student stated she could hear the door hitting her vehicle. She further stated to the officer that when she got out that she noticed the scratches, which she took photos and videos of, with the video also showing the Fusion parked next to her. The student said she was going to speak to the driver of the Fusion about the damages, but only heard the woman say “sorry” then watched her walk away quickly like she was late for class. The officer was able to make contact with the driver of the Fusion later that day who confirmed the story but said she had gone up to the driver side window to talk to her and tried telling her “sorry” but that she didn’t roll down her window or get out to talk to her so she left to go to class because she didn’t want to be late.
