Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Sounds of violence
A Public Safety dispatcher asked police to investigate a call that rose suspicion of violence at 12:04 a.m. on March 30. No one spoke directly to the dispatcher on the phone, but there were male voices over the open line. One individual told another to “get out of the room.” Another individual made a comment about “blood in the room,” according to police. The dispatcher attempted to call the number back several times. Police then tracked the call to the room of two female residents in Somerset Hall that showed no signs of disturbance.
The next day, police learned that the owner of the cell phone had been in Penobscot Hall. A neighbor came to the door to ask the residents of the room to turn down their loud music. When they refused, the neighbor forcibly entered the room and grabbed a resident by the throat. A confrontation ensued. The case is under investigation.
Injury at Ultra Lounge
Reports of a screaming female brought police to Gannett Hall at 2:14 a.m. on March 30. Officers located the individual in a second-floor room and noticed her right eye was bruised, and she was bloodied and limping slightly. She told police that another female had assaulted her at 103 Ultra Lounge. Public Safety called Orono Police and assisted in obtaining written statements from witnesses.
Cigarette combustion
An officer on foot patrol on the southwest side of Penobscot Hall observed a fire burning on a small wooden structure about two feet from the building at 10:28 p.m. on March 29. The officer doused the flames with a fire extinguisher and discovered it to be the barrier directly outside the laundry room dryer duct. Smokers often use this area to smoke cigarettes because the duct gives off heat. Police suspect the fire to be the result of an inappropriately discarded cigarette.
Stolen signs
Two fire exit signs were torn from the ceilings of the second and fourth floors in Cumberland Hall on March 30. Residents reported the disappearance of the fourth-floor sign at 4:23 a.m. An officer arrived to find the second-floor sign missing as well. Three ceiling tiles were destroyed. Police could not locate the signs and assumed they were stolen. The estimated damage is $300.
Lights out
A custodian reported a destroyed light pole on the west side of Somerset Hall at 8:46 a.m. on March 30. The pole was on the ground and the fixture was ruined. A picnic table and cigarette disposal container in the area had also been moved, according to police. Damage is estimated at $900.
Deliberate damage
Vandals broke the window of the south door in Oxford Hall sometime during the night on March 20. The incident was reported at 10:53 a.m. on March 30. Police believe the damage was intentional and estimate it at $200.
Unsuccessful cover up
Officers followed their noses and knocked on the door of a second-floor room of Cumberland Hall after receiving report of the odor of marijuana on 12:23 a.m. on March 31. They were greeted by “a strong odor of freshly burned marijuana and a strong smell of dryer sheets,” which is a common device used to mask the smell of marijuana, according to police. Five people occupied the room. Resident John Meyers, 19, Orono, admitted to smoking marijuana and handed over a homemade bong. Meyers was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Stolen sign of another kind
Facilities Management reported a missing road sign for Moosehead Road at 7:38 a.m. on March 31. The sign was taken sometime over the weekend and the estimated value is $120.
Can’t outrun the long arm of the law
As an officer entered Penobscot Hall at 10:27 p.m. on March 28, he encountered a large group leaving the building. One male held a Nalgene bottle in his right hand, which he tried to conceal behind his back as he passed the officer. When the officer told him to stop, he turned away and pushed through the group of people. Once he had bustled through the crowd, he threw the bottle containing alcohol and ran. Police could not catch him on the scene, but the officer later received a call saying that the male was Zachary Garcia, 19, Orono. Garcia explained that he panicked and ran away. The police issued Garcia a summons for possession of alcohol by a minor.
Sloppy Copy-cats
Parking Services called for assistance in the Alfond Parking Lot on March 26 at 2:33 p.m. An officer located a photocopied 2008 commuter parking permit. Driver Tavis Hasenfus, 20, Winthrop, told police that both he and his girlfriend use the permit. Because there are times when they are both parked on campus, they use a real permit and a fake one. Hasenfus received a summons for theft of services.
Ranger danger on Rangley Road
Police stopped a Ford Ranger on Rangley Road on March 27 at 11:24 p.m. because its headlights were out. As the officer took information from the driver, he picked up the scent of what he believed to be intoxicants. The scent emanated from the driver, Nathaniel Vir, 19, Orono. After a field sobriety test, Vir was taken to the Public Safety Building for a breath test, which showed a .04 BAC. In violation of Maine’s Zero Tolerance law, Vir was referred to the bureau of Motor Vehicles.
