By Jamie Miller, Mackenzie Davis and Karalynn Davis
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.
Trespass in Parking Ramp A
On Friday, May 30, at 2 p.m. an officer was patrolling the Grand Rapids Community College Ramp A, and noticed a man in the fourth floor of the southwest stairwell sitting on the ground next to the elevator going through his backpack. The individual stated that he was not a student, which was confirmed through a file check. The man was given a trespassing warning and was informed that he would be arrested if he returned to GRCC property. He left the GRCC campus southbound on his bicycle.
Trouble with persons at Student Center
On Tuesday, June 24 at 11:27 a.m., officers were dispatched to the Grand Rapids Community College Student Center at Lyon Street, on a report of a disorderly person having been advised that a woman was becoming loud and agitated in the TRIO area of level three. Upon arrival, the officers noticed a GRCC employee assisting another in escorting her off campus. The officers assisted in this while interviewing the employees. One of the employees stated that the woman had been attempting to register for classes but was having issues with disabilities related to speech and typing. The employee said she had attempted to bring the woman to Disability Support Services, but once there, the woman continued to have issues related to speech. The woman then told the officer, as the interactions went on, the woman became loud and aggressive towards her, creating a disturbance. The woman continued to have this demeanor with the officers as well, and was escorted off campus and informed that she would need to call ahead if she was intending to return and she was given a trespass warning.
Burglary at campus construction site
On Wednesday, July 2 at 1 a.m., the GRCC lead custodian contacted an officer on his personal phone to report a possible breaking and entering situation at the Science Building. The man reported that due to the third-floor entrance being under construction, an unknown individual had gained access to the science building. Upon this, an officer was dispatched to the building, where, upon his arrival, the caller informed him that he had cleared the building himself and showed the officer where he had secured the third-floor entrance door with a metal string. The officer reinforced this with a lock and chain from the GRCC armory. Later that same day at 9:50 a.m., an individual contacted GRCC PD to fill out a larceny from a building report. Two officers walked to the Science Building to meet with the individual inside the construction site. One of the officers asked him what was missing and he stated a yellow 50-foot extension cord valued at $35, which belongs to the subcontractor RJ Rolls Insulation, as well as a yellow Dewalt impact gun valued at $150. The total value of the stolen items was $185. The man told the officers the crew leaves the job site every night at 5 p.m., and he leaves at 7 p.m. to make sure everything is closed and locked up. After checking all the doors, he left at 6:45 p.m., being the last one to do so. However, upon arriving the next day he noticed that the door in the back of the Science Building, facing Ransom Avenue, did not lock due to tape being placed across the top right corner of the second door from the stairwell, further telling officers that during working hours the door is normally propped open with a rock so none of them ever checked to see if it latched properly. The man stated he believes the suspect used this door to gain entry to the building, then traveled through the turf area into the stairway in the far northeast corner. Once there, the suspect was able to walk up a short flight of stairs leading to a courtyard where they would have encountered a set of wooden doors secured with a slide lock and a screw, which the man believed the suspect was able to get through. The suspect would have then made their way to the third-floor entrance door and would have been able to untie the metal string and exit the doors onto Crescent Street. The man was then advised by the officer to contact GRCC PD if the missing items were located with the man, requesting that officers do a perimeter check after him and his crew leave for the night. There are no suspects at this time, as there is no security footage.
Suspicious situation at Ford Fieldhouse: FedEx package arrives damaged, five pairs of Nike shorts reported missing
On Monday, July 7 at 12:33 p.m., the GRCC athletic director came in to report missing items in a FedEx shipment. The woman informed the officers that the package was delivered to her office on July 1 between the times of 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. but she was out of the office for vacation, leading up to the holiday weekend, so she was out the entire week. She returned to work that day and found the box damaged and partially opened, and she told the officer that the box was from Nike. She said the only items missing were three pairs of large black and grey Nike shorts and one pair of medium black and grey Nike shorts. She said the bag, the shorts came in, was still in the box, but the shorts were missing. She further told the officers the purchase was made by the women’s head soccer coach for GRCC and that she had already spoken with the coach as well as other office staff, and clarified that no one had taken anything from the package. An officer then checked security footage, and on July 1 at 12:14 p.m., a GRCC shipping and receiving worker brought two boxes into the athletic director’s office. In the video, one of the boxes looks to be in bad condition. He came out two minutes later with no boxes or shorts in hand. Through further review of the footage, the officer saw no footage of anyone leaving the office with anything that would resemble Nike shorts. Two officers then spoke to the shipping and receiving worker later that day, shortly after speaking to the athletic director, he informed the officers that the package was in bad shape when he received it from FedEx, but he attempted to tape it back up prior to delivering it. The officers then informed the athletic director that the items may have been taken from the package prior to its arrival on campus, the officers recommended the woman file a complaint with FedEx so that the items can be resent, with the officers informing the shipping and receiving worker of the same thing. The cost of the items in all is estimated to be $148.
Damage to property reported at Parking Ramp A
On Monday, July 14, at 6:02 a.m., an officer was dispatched to meet with a GRCC employee at Parking Ramp A about a broken window in the parking ramp’s fourth floor, with initial information stating a water bottle had been used to cause the damage. Upon arrival, the officer met with the employee, and he showed the officer the damage, which had already been cleaned up with caution tape strung up near the broken window as an added safety measure. There was also a teal water bottle on the ground just in front of the window. The employee speculated the damage occurred between 11 p.m. on Sunday and 1 a.m. that same day. The employee stated he didn’t remember seeing anyone inside the ramp at those times. A damage value had yet to be assessed at the time the report was completed and there were no suspects.
Trespassers ejected from South Commons
Editor’s note: This report was sent to The Collegiate with a large portion redacted
On Thursday July 17 at 7:43 p.m. an officer was doing building checks when he noticed two individuals smoking at a charging table at the South Commons. Both individuals told the officers they weren’t students but were just attempting to charge their phones using the charging tables. The officer asked for their names and dates of birth and upon getting them ran their names through the Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network, as he did two other officers arrived on scene. The trespassers would end up handcuffed and put in the back of one of the officers’ squad cruisers; however they would ultimately be let go with a trespass warning.
Trespasser removed from Parking Ramp A
On Thursday, July 17, at 8:58 p.m., an officer was doing building checks and on his way up the southwest stairs of Parking Ramp A when he noticed someone sleeping in the stairwell of level six. The officer notified dispatch, who sent another officer as the male officer made contact with the sleeping man. The man was crying and stated he did not want to go downtown due to being tempted to use crack cocaine. He then gave the officer paperwork stating he was going to check into rehab the next day and gave the officer his caseworker’s number as well. The officer stated he did not want the man to use crack cocaine, but he could not sleep in the ramp, which the man stated he understood. A female officer then arrived as the male officer ran the man through the Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network via dispatch. The male officer then advised the man that he was not allowed back on GRCC property. The man said he understood and left campus.
