By Bryon Wells
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 3, 1998

Police Beat

University police nabbed a 14-year-old boy Thursday after he allegedly came to campus to steal a bicycle near the Social Sciences building, 1145 E. South Campus Drive.

A woman walking near the building's east side told university police she saw a boy ride up to a bike rack at 5:55 p.m.

The woman told police the youth put down the Huffy bike he was riding then take off on another, a Specialized men's mountain bike, police reports stated.

About 10 minutes later, police stopped a boy riding a Specialized bicycle, carrying a set of bolt cutters, near East 10th Street and North First Avenue.

Police checked the youth's pocket and found a pipe with marijuana residue, reports stated.

The boy was referred to Pima County Juvenile Court on theft and drug paraphernalia charges, then released to his grandmother.

The woman told police that the bolt cutters belonged to her grandson but the bicycles did not.

A UA student was arrested on alcohol charges Friday night after university police found him without shoes, passed out near the Park Student Union, 615 N. Park Ave.

At 11:28 p.m., police found Matt J. Accolla, 19, a resident of Coronado Hall, 822 E. Fifth St., laying unconscious with both shoes off, reeking of alcohol, police reports stated.

Police woke Accolla and noticed he had bloodshot eyes and was having a hard time standing, reports stated.

Accolla told police he had been drinking hard alcohol, but couldn't remember how many drinks or what kind, reports stated.

Officers cited Accolla on a charge of minor in possession of alcohol and then dropped him off at Coronado Hall.

A Tucson woman was arrested Saturday after university police spotted her puffing on a joint while driving near East Sixth Street and North Euclid Avenue, police reports stated.

The officer was driving by four cars waiting in the left turn lane of Sixth Street about 5:30 p.m. when he saw a 1973 GMC pickup with three passengers, including a child in an unsecured car seat, reports stated.

The officer saw the truck's driver, Amanda Rhea Wagner, 19, of the 800 block of East 34th Street, raise a hand-rolled cigarette to her lips, reports stated.

The woman's eyes "became very large," and she quickly dropped what she was smoking when she saw she was being watched, reports stated.

Wagner threw the joint out of the driver's side window, but told police she had been smoking marijuana, reports stated.

Wagner was cited on charges of marijuana possession and two counts of permitting the life, health or morals of a minor to be imperiled by neglect, abuse or immoral associations. She was also cited for driving without proof of insurance.

A Tucson woman was arrested on drunken driving charges early Saturday on East Speedway Boulevard near North Third Avenue.

An officer was stopped at a red light behind a 1990 Honda Accord at North Park Avenue and East Speedway when the Honda started to drive off before the light turned green, then stopped abruptly.

The officer followed the vehicle west on Speedway as it swerved over the road's divider line and nearly hit a curb before stopping at North Third Avenue, police reports stated.

The officer noticed that the driver, Shannon D. Virginillo, 24, of the 3000 block of West Autumn Breeze Drive, had bloodshot, watery eyes and an odor of alcohol on her breath, reports stated.

Virginillo was taken to police headquarters, where breath tests showed blood-alcohol levels of .216, .224 and .238, more than twice the .10 legal limit, reports stated.

Virginillo was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and released to her husband.

University police shooed away one boy after responding to a complaint Saturday of eight juveniles skateboarding near the Education Building, 1430 E. Second Street.

An officer drove to the building at 3:20 p.m. and noticed one skateboarder "hot-dogging," while others sat and watched him, police reports stated.

The skaters ran off in different directions when they saw the cruiser, and the officer drove around to "cut off" one of them as he ran toward the UA Mall area, reports stated.

A check indicated the boy was a high school student, had been arrested in 1997 for trespassing, and was warned a year earlier for skateboarding on campus, reports stated.

The officer told him that he could no longer come to the University of Arizona without legitimate business.

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