By Bryon Wells
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 10, 1998

Police Beat

Two students reported that a group of youngsters broke their dorm room windows Sunday during an early morning raid on Hopi Residence Hall, 1440 E. Fourth St.

Police arrived at the dorm at 2:24 a.m. and spoke to a student who was awakened by the crashing sound of something breaking his first-floor window. The student said he then saw some people running north along the west side of the building, reports stated.

Another first-floor resident told police he was using his computer about the same time when an object busted his window, but didn't see anybody outside.

While checking the damage outside, police noticed that the objects had broken the windows but hadn't penetrated the screens. Police also found bits of oranges stuck to both windows and an orange on the ground near the windows, reports stated.

A witness outside the dorm told the officers that he heard the windows break and then saw four young men running away.

An employee told police Wednesday that somebody had grabbed a picture from a wall inside of the Physics and Atmospheric Sciences building, 1118 E. Fourth St.

The employee said she discovered at 7:30 p.m. April 2 that an 11- by-14-inch frame containing a picture of blue circles was missing from its place near the door to a second-floor room, police reports stated.

The employee told police she had sent e-mail to other employees in an effort to track down the missing artwork but had received no replies, reports stated.

The picture, valued at $50, had been lifted from brackets on the wall, and the employee said she would bring a photo of the picture to help police identify the geometrical patterns depicted in the illustration, reports stated.

University police suspect that someone kicked in the fenders and door of a patrol car Tuesday, since officers found mysterious dents on the vehicle at police headquarters, 1200 E. Lowell St.

Officers discovered dents to the passenger-side fender, door and front quarter panel on a 1993 Chevrolet Caprice cruiser at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, police reports stated.

The officer who used the vehicle the night before did not notice any damage when he turned the vehicle in at the end of his shift, but said he did leave it unattended twice that night while he responded to calls at the Student Recreation Center, 1400 E. Sixth St., about 6 p.m., and again near the Main Gate Garage, 815 E. Second St., at 7:30 p.m., reports stated.

University police received numerous reports Monday and Tuesday of a stolen bicycle wheel that may have been used to steal poorly secured bikes around campus.

A man flagged down police officers near Life Sciences South, 1007 E. Lowell St., at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday and said he had encountered a man about 10:30 p.m. Monday who was trying to steal his mountain bike, police reports stated.

The man, 27, told police he caught the man separating the bike from its secured front wheel and putting a Murray-brand tire on the bike. He told the would-be thief to leave, reports stated.

The 27-year-old man told police he then put his tire back on his bike and locked the Murray tire to his bike frame before sitting down nearby to read, reports stated. He told police he could identify the thief, said he would like to press charges, and gave officers the extra tire.

After speaking to the man, one of the officers noticed a Murray bike at the same rack with a missing front tire and left a card on the bike asking the owner to contact police.

The owner of the Murray called the officer at 7 a.m. Tuesday and told him that her wheel was in fact taken from her bike, and that she saw the 27-year-old man in the area about 10:10 p.m. Monday night, reports stated.

Police asked the woman to take a look at the wheel the man gave them and said they may consider him a suspect if the wheel is in fact hers, reports stated.

Police also received a report from a student at Yavapai Residence Hall, 1222 E. South Campus Drive, that someone had taken the front wheel from his Murray bicycle Monday night.

Another student reported finding an abandoned Murray bike tire near her bike about noon Tuesday near Yavapai, reports stated.

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