On March 16 at 8:21 p.m., Emory Police Department (EPD) spoke with an Emory staff member regarding a stolen iPhone 5. The complainant reported that he last had the phone on March 15 at 4:15 p.m., while he was on an Emory shuttle bus traveling to North DeKalb Mall. He realized that his phone was missing when he exited off the bus at 4:30 p.m. When he returned home, he used the “Find my iPhone” app and discovered that the phone was at 1868 Westminster Way NE in Atlanta. The complainant went to that location later that night but found no one there. He also attempted to call the phone, but it was turned off. EPD officers went to the location after speaking with the complainant but they were also unable to make contact with anyone at the location. The phone is valued at $720. The case has been assigned to an investigator.
On March 17 at 8:42 p.m., EPD spoke with a complainant and her sister, who are both Emory students, regarding property damage, criminal trespassing and harassing communications. The complainant reported that on March 17, she was in her Clairmont Campus apartment with her sister. The complainant left the apartment at 4 p.m, and her sister reported leaving at 4:20 p.m. The sister said she returned to the apartment at 8:10 p.m. and discovered that the complainant’s room had been ransacked and the contents of the room were in disarray. Multiple hair products, skin care products and oils were dumped and sprayed all over the mattress, bookshelf, carpet, wall and dresser. The mattress was removed from the bed, and clothes were scattered across the bedroom floor.
The complainant reported that she left the front door to the apartment and her bedroom door unlocked. When the complainant returned to her apartment, she noticed that a pair of sneakers that were given to her by her ex-girlfriend were missing. The complainant said she believed her ex-girlfriend had ransacked the room. She used to visit the apartment and knew that the doors are usually left unlocked. The complainant said her ex-girlfriend was angry with her because, after they had broken up, the complainant began dating a mutual friend. The complainant said her ex-girlfriend had “angrily” threatened to beat her up via text. The complainant said she has blocked all forms of communication with her ex-girlfriend, including social media and text messages.
The complainant told EPD that a restraining order was unnecessary and did not wish to press charges. After speaking with the complainant, officers spoke with the ex-girlfriend, who admitted to ransacking the apartment but denied taking the sneakers. While EPD was investigating, officers determined that a physical assault occurred around 8:30 p.m. between the complainant and the alleged suspect in the burglary case on the same day that the burglary occurred. The complainant said that after she discovered her room was ransacked, she went to her ex-girlfriend’s apartment, also located in Clairmont Campus, to confront her. The complainant said that once her ex-girlfriend opened the door, they began talking and then her ex-girlfriend “swung” at her. The complainant said they yelled at each other and then she slapped her ex-girlfriend in the face, which led to the physical altercation. The complainant said her ex-girlfriend’s roommate broke them up. The roommate said he was sitting in his room when he heard banging and yelling but did not see who hit whom first. Both the complainant and the ex-girlfriend agreed not to contact each other, and both said they were not injured and refused medical attention. Neither the ex-girlfriend nor the complainant wished to press charges. Campus Life was notified about the incident.
On March 16 at 8:54 p.m., EPD responded to a call from a staff member in the Office of Equity and Inclusion regarding harassing communications. The complainant reported that on March 7, she received a text message from an unknown number that only said the word “n****r.” The complainant said that she responded to the text, “God Bless You!” The complainant said the unknown number then replied to her with a picture depicting a nude white male subject propping himself up with one hand on a bathroom counter, with his legs on the walls behind him and taking the picture with his other hand. The complainant said she did not recognize the subject and blocked the number after receiving the photo. The case has been assigned to an investigator.
On March 21 at 2:24 p.m., EPD responded to a call from a parking services employee regarding a stolen vehicle. The complainant said that she parked her 2001 Chrysler Town & Country minivan on March 21 at 6 a.m. in the Gambrell Parking Deck but discovered her vehicle missing when she returned at 2:15 p.m. One of the complainant’s coworkers said that the car was not there at about 11:30 a.m. and thought that the complainant had left work early. An officer patrolled the parking deck and was unable to locate the complainant’s vehicle or any broken glass near or around where the vehicle was parked. The complainant said she was sure she locked the door. The car is valued at $2,500 and was reported stolen. The case has been assigned to an investigator.
On March 22 at 8:35 a.m., EPD spoke with an employee in the Office of Housing Operations. The employee reported that sometime between 4 p.m. on March 21 and 6:30 a.m. on March 22, an unknown subject pried open the vending machine on the first floor of Raoul Hall and emptied its contents. Service personnel from Old Fashion Foods arrived to restock the vending machine on March 22 at about 6:30 a.m. and discovered that the machine had been pried open. The machine was empty except for a few packs of chewing gum and a few individual snacks. No money was stolen. An officer responded to the scene at 9:30 a.m. and observed that the vending machine door was hanging from the top hinge and had marks on the frame consistent with a pry bar or comparable device. The bottom hinge of the door was also broken. The staff member pointed out that a camera covers the lobby through which all subjects would have had to pass when they are exiting or entering one of the residential floors. The case has been assigned to an investigator.
On March 23 at 7:11 p.m., EPD responded to a call from an Emory student regarding harassing communications. The complainant reported that her ex-boyfriend, who is not affiliated with Emory, was sending her threatening messages and hacking into her email, iCloud, Instagram and Snapchat accounts. The complainant reported that after she blocked her ex-boyfriend on Instagram, he was still able to message her. She later found that he was actually unblocked. The complainant said that her ex-boyfriend commented on something that she said over the phone to her friend but that she did not believe that her friend would have relayed the conversation to him. The complainant said both she and her parents received alerts about login attempts and activity on their accounts. The complainant said she ended the relationship in January 2018, and her ex-boyfriend told her via text that he was angry at her for telling their business to her friends and threatened, “Expose me and I will return the favor without hesitation.” The officers offered several safety precautions the complainant could take in order to secure her email accounts, such as using a Duo Security passcode, factory resetting her cell phone and changing the passwords to every digital account she owns. The case has been assigned to an investigator.
On March 25 at 5:23 p.m., an EPD officer was dispatched to the Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC) regarding an incident report. The officer met with two complainants, the building supervisor and a facility attendee. The building supervisor said she completed an incident report for a verbal altercation between an Emory student and a visitor that occurred on the fourth floor tennis courts prior to the officer’s arrival. The student reported the incident to the facility attendee to make the facility aware of the visitor’s alleged behavior, but did not want to file a police report, according to the two complainants. The complainant reported that the student said he felt threatened by the visitor during the course of their tennis match, saying that the visitor would repeatedly come within an inch of his face in a threatening manner, loudly curse at him and threaten his life during the match. The visitor also tried to use the tennis ball to hit the student but repeatedly missed. The visitor never made any physical contact with the complainant during their encounter. The complainants said the student wouldn’t go into detail regarding the alleged threats made toward him by the visitor because they were “too vulgar” and he didn’t want to repeat them. The building supervisor said that she attempted to speak with the visitor, but he “blew her off” and said the student “just needs to get over it and be a better player,” before leaving the location. Two of the student’s friends, who are also Emory students, witnessed the altercation and confirmed the victim’s account. Campus Life was notified about the incident. The case has been assigned to an investigator.
valerie.sandoval@emory.edu | Valerie Sandoval (20C) is from Greenville, S.C., and is majoring in economics and political science. In addition to the Wheel, Valerie is on the women’s ultimate frisbee team.
