By Bryon Wells
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 6, 1998

Police Beat

Rural/Metro paramedics responded to Spring Fling at McKale Lawn Thursday to treat a 15-year-old girl who was assaulted during a name-calling-inspired fist fight.

The girl told police she and her friends were standing near one of the rides about 9:30 p.m. when a group of girls walked by, one of them reportedly calling her a "bitch," police reports stated.

The girl told police she said "whatever," and one of the passing females, later identified as an 18-year-old Tucson woman, confronted her and punched her, reports stated. The rest of the group of about seven women allegedly joined the fray and then walked away, reports stated.

The 15-year-old told police she went to look for help and was "jumped" again by the 18-year-old woman and trampled to the mud before somebody pulled her attacker from her.

The girl was treated for minor abrasions on her face and for a cut on her ear where an earring had been torn from her skin. She was then released to her mother, who had arrived to take her home, reports stated. The girl told police she wanted to press assault charges.

Another officer found the woman accused of the assault minutes later and warned her for criminal trespassing before escorting her from the fairgrounds because it was not yet known there was an injured victim, reports stated.

University police arrested a man Thursday on drunken driving charges after they found him wandering near his rented automobile, which he had driven into a light pole near North Highland Avenue and East South Campus Drive.

Police arrived at 12:38 a.m. and found a gold 1998 Toyota Corolla in the middle of the intersection with its horn blaring, three flat tires and damage to the passenger side. The driver's-side door was open and both air bags inside the car had been deployed, police reports stated.

Police discovered a man matching a witness's description of the driver walking west, who then turned around and walked back toward the wreck, reports stated.

When asked if he was the driver, the man, later identified as Mark J. Klumph, 40, of El Cajon, Calif., told police, "Yeah, I'm sorry," reports stated.

Police noticed Klumph was swaying from side to side, and officers could smell the odor of alcohol on his breath and body, reports stated.

After Klumph performed field sobriety tests, police arrested him on charges of drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to control speed to avoid an accident, reports stated.

During interviews, Klumph told police he "screwed up," and if there was any way that police could let him go, he would really appreciate it, reports stated.

Klumph was booked into the Pima County Jail and later released.

A student reported that somebody cut his U-lock and took his bicycle while it was parked near the Harvill building, 1103 E. Second St.

The student told police he locked his $600 Diamondback Soriento Sport bicycle to a cement block stand on the west side of the building at 11 a.m.

When he returned about an hour later, he discovered his bike was missing and found his U-lock on the ground, with a cut apparently made by large bolt-cutters, police reports stated.

The student told police nobody in the area had seen anybody suspicious, and officers suggested he check with local bike stores to see if somebody had sold his bicycle to them, reports stated.

A student told university police Thursday that somebody had slashed his tires and keyed his truck while it was parked near La Paz Residence Hall, 602 N. Highland Ave.

The student told police he had parked his truck at midnight Wednesday and was told by a UA Parking and Transportation employee at 8:30 a.m. Thursday that somebody had flattened all his tires on his 1997 Chevy pickup, police reports stated.

The student also discovered a scratch running the entire length of the passenger side and told police nobody had seen anybody suspicious in the area, reports stated.

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