Police Beat
Tom Collins
Arizona Summer Wildcat
July 17, 1996
Police Beat
Tom Collins
Arizona Summer Wildcat
July 17, 1996
Monday, July 8Reports of a woman lying on the ground brought university police to the corner of East Speedway Boulevard and North Cherry Avenue at 11 a.m.
As police arrived, a silver and maroon truck was seen leaving the area.
The driver of the truck said he'd been arguing with his wife, who "needed to take her Prozac" and had almost "passed out."
The woman told police she did need to take her medicine and that she and her husband were working through marital problems. The woman said she had not been assaulted, but had felt faint in the intersection and asked her husband to take her home.
Tuesday, July 9A red and white GMC truck was stolen from outside of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, 1423 E. First St.
At 7:40 p.m., two student residents of the house stopped a police officer when they discovered broken glass in the parking lot. Another student resident said he had parked his truck there at 7 p.m., and when he came back it was gone. The value of the truc k was unknown.
Wednesday, July 10A hard slide-tackle in a nighttime soccer game began a conflict that brought university police to the UA Mall.
Police arrived outside the Ina Gittings Building, 1713 E. University Blvd., at about 8:30 p.m. after reports of a man with a gun.
The game had been "getting physical" when one player slide-tackled another player. In the ensuing argument, a friend of the slide-tackler hit the downed player.
The slide-tackler and the third player left and went to their car. One of the men had previously brandished a gun after a conflict during another soccer game, a witness told police, and there was an assumption he had returned to the car to get it.
The two men drove off in a late 1970s Toyota.
The players gave police a partial license plate number, and using that, police stopped a late 1970s Toyota.
The occupants of that vehicle did not have anything to do with the assault, but a check on the driver revealed a warrant out for his arrest.
Jose L. Montanez Acuna, 34, of the 1200 block of East 12th Street, was arrested for failure to pay a DUI citation in Mesa. He was taken to Pima County Jail to await extradition.
The players were advised to call police if they saw the two men again.
Thursday, July 11A female student who had changed her schedule to avoid a stalker encountered the man outside the Student Recreation Center, 1400 E. Sixth St.
The student saw the man about 9:30 p.m. and told officers he had previously exposed himself to her.
Though she altered her schedule, she still sees him watching her "as if he wanted to be noticed." The student wanted police to tell the man to leave her alone and that she would seek an order of protection against him.
The man told police he wanted nothing to do with the student and would try harder to avoid her.
Sunday, July 14A car seen driving erratically was pulled over by university police, and the driver was arrested for DUI.
A UAPD officer noticed a white Ford Escort stop less than 6 feet from the car before it at the East Sixth Street and North Campbell Avenue intersection, at 1:26 a.m.
The officer followed the Escort to North Tucson Boulevard, seeing it cross the lane divider on the way. The Escort was stopped at Tucson and East Seventh Street.
The driver, Richard L. Lave, 42, of the 700 block of North Dodge Boulevard, moved slowly and deliberately in removing his license from his wallet. He had red and watery eyes, according to police reports.
Lave told police he had been drinking "a little bit," police reports stated.
Lave failed field sobriety tests and was arrested on charges of DUI. He was taken to UAPD where he failed two intoxilyzer tests and was also cited for DUI with a blood alcohol content over .10, and released to a taxi cab.
A Cadillac pulling out of a Circle K driveway without stopping led to an arrest Sunday.
At 10:20 a.m., a university police officer observed a yellow 1975 Cadillac leave the store, 1610 E. Sixth St., without stopping at the sidewalk or the roadway.
The driver, Ronny J. Cronk, 35, of the 4000 block of South Evergreen Avenue, explained that his choke sticks and he had to accelerate quickly to unstick it.
The officer returned to his patrol car to run a warrants check on Cronk. While checking, he heard a dispatch report of a "gas skip" of $25.01 from the Circle K. The officer asked Cronk if he had taken the gas, and Cronk admitted to the act, according to p olice reports.
A Tucson police officer arrived and arrested Cronk on charges of theft and took him to Pima County Jail. The UAPD officer also cited Cronk for failure to stop when exiting a private drive.
Police Beat is compiled from official University of Arizona Police Department reports.If you enjoy Police Beat, then check out "Police Have No Suspects" on sale now!
