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Police Beat

By Liz Dailey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 22, 1999
Send comments to:
letters@wildcat.arizona.edu

University police arrested a man Wednesday morning on suspicion of disorderly conduct and aggravated assault after he ran from officers, police reports stated.

An employee working at the CatCard office in the Memorial Student Union, 1303 E. University Blvd., told police Joseph William Blanco came in to the office at 9:57 a.m. and demanded a CatCard, reports stated.

The employee told police she pressed an alarm button after Blanco allegedly reached over the counter and began to "bang on her computer keyboard," reports stated.

Two officers searched the area for Blanco, whose address was unavailable. One officer found him behind the union and ordered him to stop.

Blanco reportedly pushed the officer's motorcycle out of the way and damaged it while fleeing from police.

Police wrestled Blanco to the ground on the south side of the UA Mall and asked him why he ran.

Blanco told officers he bolted because he was "afraid of Nazis." Police told Blanco they were not Nazis, reports stated.

Another employee told police she saw Blanco playing with the volume on the television in the union's Cellar, reports stated.

The worker said she told Blanco not to touch the volume. She said he assumed a karate stance and threatened to "karate chop" her, reports stated.

Blanco was arrested and booked into Pima County Jail.

A student called police Tuesday morning after another student threatened to "drink himself to death," at Babcock Residence Hall, 1717 E. Speedway Blvd., police reports stated.

Police spoke with the "suicidal" Babcock resident at 1:48 a.m. He told police he was not trying to kill himself and that his friends had overreacted.

The resident said he "hates cops" and "the fact that you're (the police) here ain't making my night any better," reports stated.

The students told police they would keep an eye on the resident. He told police he had not taken his Prozac in a week because he did not have the money for a refill, reports stated.

Police notified the resident assistant.

Police arrested three students March 13 on suspicion of underage drinking after one student admitted to throwing rocks at a car, police reports stated.

A student officer radioed police at 12:08 a.m. after he saw three men running from the west side of the Biological Sciences West building, 1041 E. Lowell St.

The student officer said the men got into a red Chevrolet truck and fled south on North Fremont Avenue.

Police searched the building and found a plastic bag containing a broken bottle of Mickey's beer along with a damaged "no parking" sign. After examining the damage, police believed that the sign had been struck by a vehicle.

UAPD was informed that Tucson Police Department officers were searching for a red truck. The vehicle was spotted on East Ninth Avenue and someone in the truck reportedly had thrown a rock at a car window, reports stated.

At 12:34 a.m. a UA police officer saw the truck going north on North Park Avenue from East Eighth Street. Officers found the truck parked in the drive-through line of U of A Liquors, 1002 E. Sixth St.

The driver reportedly began to drive away after an officer pulled in behind the truck.

Police ordered the truck to stop and for the passengers to exit the vehicle.

Leon Royce Tuchawena, 20, Ottis K. Begay, 19 and Otis Bryant, 19, got out of the truck and spoke with UAPD and TPD officers.

Police found several "large rocks in the bed of the truck," reports stated.

Tuchawena, of the 1000 block of East Ninth Street, told police he had no identification. He said he and the two other men had gone to campus to look for an "ATM," reports stated.

Tuchawena told police Bryant hit the parking sign near the Biological Sciences West building when they were leaving, reports stated.

He told police he knew nothing about the rock throwing and was "wasted" from "a couple" of beers. Tuchawena was cited for underage drinking and released.

Begay, an Arizona-Sonora dorm resident, told police he did not know who threw the rock, reports stated.

Police told Begay they did not believe him and he could be arrested for lying. Begay then admitted to throwing the rock.

TPD officers arrested Begay on suspicion of criminal damage and underage drinking and released him.

Bryant, of the 1000 block of East Ninth Street, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and was taken to Pima County Jail. His blood alcohol level was tested at .182 and .185 minutes later. He was then cited on suspicion of a BAC over .10 and extreme DUI, reports stated.

Bryant was also cited for striking the parking sign and fleeing, reports stated.

He was released by pre-trial services.

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