Hi 79 / Lo 52
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Volume 71, Issue 108,
Monday, March 20, 2006
News Carjacking prompts UH's first e-mail, Web security alert by RACHAEL SEELEY
A man was carjacked at gunpoint on campus while talking on his cell phone in Faculty/Staff Parking Lot 13A on March 12 just before Spring Break. For the first time, a UH Security Alert with details about the crime and a link to more information on the UH Police Web site was e-mailed to UH faculty, staff and students last week. UH Police Department Chief of Police, Malcolm Davis said the new system alerts students faster and saves paper. Before the new system was put in place, alerts were faxed to individual departments for posting. "This way it goes out to everybody and not just the fax machines," Davis said. UHPD arrested a 15-year-old male for the crime Wednesday; he is facing charges of aggravated assault in the juvenile system. The victim told UHPD officers he pulled into the lot, which is adjacent to the A.D. Bruce Religion Center and the Quadrangle Residence Halls, at around 1:20 a.m. to answer his phone when a black male approached him, asked to use the phone, then displayed a short-barreled black revolver and demanded his wallet, keys and car. "(The victim) wasn't visiting anybody; he wasn't a student; he wasn't even going to the library," Davis said. "He got a call on his cell phone and pulled over into the parking lot to answer. He said that was the safest place to pull over," Davis said. The victim complied with the demands and was not injured. "It's a random kind of act; we don't have a lot of armed robberies on the campus, but we just want everybody to be vigilant, keep your eyes open," UHPD Sgt. Jon Williams said. The victim's car was found the next day rammed into a light pole on Ella Boulevard. Williams said the driver fled the scene before police arrived. "It was raining outside and we speculate that the guy didn't know how to handle the car coming around a slight curb and ran into a light pole," Williams said. Davis said in the event of an on-campus mugging, the smartest thing for a victim to do is comply with attacker's demands, wait for the scene to become safe, then go to the nearest UHPD call box and report the crime before the suspect can flee the area. "If all they want is your cell phone, give it to them. You're cell phone is replaceable, you're not," Davis said. "While you're doing it, be memorizing what they look like, what kind of clothes they are wearing and the direction that they travel." Davis said students and staff should report any suspicious behavior to UHPD at (713) 743-3333. To view the security alert online, visit www.uh.edu/police. "We need the students, faculty and staff to be our eyes and ears and let us know what's happening," Davis said. "You really need to be conscious of your surroundings." Send comments to dcnews@mail.uh.edu |
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