By Kristen Pownall

Arizona Daily Wildcat

An unknown person set fire to several palm branches sometime Saturday night in the north courtyard of the Delta Chi fraternity house, 1701 E. First St.

Police received reports of heavy smoke coming from the fraternity's courtyard. Witnesses told police the flames were about 20 to 30 feet high before members of the fraternity put out the fire with hoses, police said.

The palm branches were lying in the courtyard because the fraternity hosted a "Tahiti" party earlier that night, police said. A member of the fraternity told police he put out another fire in the same area a few hours earlier. Fraternity members said they did not know who set the fires, police said.

No injuries or damage resulted from the fires, police said.

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A UA student reported suspicious activity late Thursday night after a man said he would help the student pay a credit card debt and then began talking about guns, drugs and sex in the student's room at Apache-Santa Cruz Hall.

The student told police a black man in his late thirties with a grey, "scruffy" beard approached him at about 9 p.m. at Circle K, 1610 E. Sixth St., and asked the student if he needed any money. The student said he had $150 on his credit card that he needed to pay off, police said. The man said he could help him pay the debt and went with the student back to his dorm room.

While in the student's room, the man told the student he sells "guns, drugs and sex to different types of people," police said. The student asked the man what he would have to "do" for the money.

The man replied, "Have sex with a lawyer," police said.

The man told the student to meet him at the Circle K at 1 a.m. and then left the room, police said.

The student told police he thought it was all a "big joke" and went to sleep. Around 7 a.m., the student was awakened by the man, who came to his room to say he was sorry, police said.

The man said he would give the student $150 and it was unnecessary for the student to "do" anything for the money, police said.

The man told the student all he needed was $5 to get across town to pick up his car and he would bring the student the money at Circle K later that afternoon, police said. The student agreed and gave the man $5, police said. The student waited at the store, but the man never came, police said the incident because he did not want the man bothering him at his dorm.

Police Beat is compiled from official University of Arizona Police Department reports. Read Next Article