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
Student steals tools from the M-Tec building
On Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 4:57 p.m., a Grand Rapids Community College Police officer was informed of a larceny report at Grand Rapids Community College’s Michigan Technical Education building. The officer made contact with the employee who filed the report via telephone. The employee said a student had come to him earlier that day to report that a student had been stealing tools from the M-Tec building. The employee stated he had filed a report about the missing items and provided a list of the missing tools to the investigating officer. The missing items were three flex head ratchets, three torque wrenches, various hand tools, three impact wrenches, three ratchets, one extended ratchet, five impact ratchets, one impact swivel socket set deep, one impact swivel socket set shallow and several LED work lights. The officer then made contact with the student, who informed the employee, asking if he could speak to the student regarding the missing tools. The student said he would come into the police building to speak to the officer regarding the report with the officer interviewing him along with another officer on the matter. The student told the officers that he had witnessed another student stealing tools. He stated he saw the man stealing flashlights and extensions but that he also saw stolen tools in his vehicle. He further explained that he went out to eat with the other student last semester and also noticed stolen tools in the vehicle and that the other student told him he keeps the stolen items in his car and his house. The student gave the officers a detailed description of the suspects’ car, a black 2017 Chevy Cruz with damage on the front bumper and green and white license plate. The student told officers that the suspect would steal items and put them into his backpack and when working on his vehicle in the auto bay, he would load the tools into his vehicle. The officer attempted to find footage of the suspect stealing items via the GRCC cameras but failed. He then requested dispatch to use the Law Information Network to hunt down the car registered to the suspect. They were able to find the car, which was registered to his sister. The next day at 2:07 p.m., two officers went to the M-Tec parking lot to see if they could see GRCC power tools in plain view. They were able to see multiple power tools in the back of the vehicle, and speaking to the employee, he confirmed that the tools described match the description of some of the missing tools. At 2:44 pm. that same day, the officers made contact with the suspect in a classroom. The officers asked him if he knew anything about some stolen tools, and he stated he did not. The officers then asked if they could search his car, and the student consented. When they got to his car, the man admitted to stealing some tools from M-Tec but said those were the only tools he stole. The officers asked if they could search the rest of his vehicle, to which he consented. The officers found a couple of hand tools in the trunk and a cordless grinder. The officer then read the suspect his Miranda rights and arrested him. The suspect later told the officer in an interview that all the tools he took were in his vehicle and that he wasn’t keeping any at home. He further stated he wasn’t selling GRCC tools and that they were only for personal use.
Alarm triggered at Fulton Street
On Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 1:07 a.m., an officer received a phone call from EPS in reference to an intrusion alarm at the GRCC Administrative building on Fulton Street. To be specific, the officer was told it was the alarm that covered the north entry door, but that it wasn’t tripped. Upon arriving at 1:16 a.m., the officer observed the parking lot north of the building to be empty. Upon investigating, the officer noticed that the north entry door was still intact and secure, and in looking through the glass window he could see the alarm was still set, but it wasn’t making any audible noise. The officer then entered the building, entered his EPS code to reset the alarm, then left the building calling EPS to make sure that the alarm was active. Upon getting confirmation, he cleared the area and left.
Trespasser ejected from Ramp A
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 9:25 p.m., an officer was sitting in his squad car at Parking Ramp A, level six, at Bostwick Avenue when a student walked up to the officer to inform him that there was a man who appeared to be sleeping in the west side stairwell. The officer arrived at the stairwell and located the male subject, who was still asleep. The officer asked him to wake up and speak with him, but he did not. After several attempts to wake him and failing, the officer advised the man that he would have to help him up if he did not get up. When the man didn’t, the officer lifted him to his feet, which led to the man apologizing and stating he was out of it due to sleeping. The officer asked him if he was a student, and the man said he wasn’t. The officer then asked the man if he knew that he was trespassing, and he said he didn’t. The officer then gave him a verbal warning, telling him if he trespassed again, he could be arrested. The man stated he understood and left without incident.
Trespasser removed from Ramp A
On Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7:42 a.m., an officer was dispatched to parking ramp A due to an apparent homeless person sleeping on level six of the west stairwell. Arriving with another officer, the two located the subject, who was seated on the ground with a couple of backpacks. He also had multiple items plugged into an outlet in that location. The officer identified himself and asked what he was doing. The man said he was just charging a few things. The officer informed him he could not be sitting and blocking the stairwell or sleeping in it. The man retorted that he was not sleeping but only in the stairwell to use the power outlet. The officer asked him if he had an ID on him, which the man said he didn’t, but he gave the man his name. The officer further asked if he had any previous contact with GRCC PD, and he said that he hadn’t. However, dispatch was able to determine that GRCC PD had made contact with him in November of 2023 for trespassing. The officer informed him of this and gave him a verbal warning for trespassing. The officer then explained the identifiers on the GRCC buildings and that if he was caught trespassing in any GRCC buildings again he could be arrested for trespassing.
Ramp A elevator vandalized
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 9:59 a.m., an officer was dispatched to Bostwick Ave on a report of damage to property. Upon arrival the officer made contact with a GRCC electrician at Ramp A who showed the officer where the damage was located, the damaged which had occurred to a electrical outlet located in the southwest corner of the elevator shaft stairwell on the sixth floor and consisted of the cover of the outlet being missing though the screws were still intact, the electrician noted it appeared that the suspect had used a screwdriver to back out the screws and remove the cover. The officer looked in the nearby trashcan and the surrounding area to find the missing cover but was unable to do so. The officer was also unable to locate any cameras that could have filmed the incident. The electrician told the officer that this is an ongoing issue as he had just replaced the same outlet cover the previous day at 10 a.m. he further stated that on Dec. 6, similar damage occurred to three exterior outlets on the west wall of the ground level of Ramp A. He stated to the officer that this damage had not occurred before and has since been replaced.
Car accident at M-Tec
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 10:38 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the M-Tec building on a report of a car accident. Upon arrival, the officer made contact with a GRCC Auto Lab tech who informed the officer that a GRCC student had been backing a 2006 Maroon Nissan Titan into a parking space on the northside of the building near exit door five when he struck a 2015 silver Chevy Malibu. He told the officer that the Malibu was unoccupied in the parking space next to where the Titan was attempting to back into. The Lab Tech noted that the lot and parking spaces had been partially covered by ice. The officer then made contact with the student, who confirmed the lab tech’s story, stating he had been backing into a parking space when he hit a patch of ice, striking the other car. The officer noticed that the Titan had come to a rest in the grassy area north of the parking area in question, to which the student responded that his foot may have slipped off the brake pedal and onto the accelerator when he struck the ice. The rear driver side of the Titan and driver side rear quarter panel of the Malibu were damaged in the mishap, though the student himself was unharmed in the crash.
