The Emory Wheel regularly meets with Emory Police Department (EPD) Records Manager Ed Shoemaker (87G, 90G) and Communications Director of Campus Safety Morieka Johnson (94C, 24L) and uses EPD’s public crime log to inform the Emory University community about recent crime on and around Emory’s campuses.
To report a crime, contact EPD at 404-727-6111 or police@emory.edu.
Simple battery at Emory University Hospital
A hospital technician assaulted a patient at Emory University Hospital (EUH) between 7-10 p.m. on Jan. 21. The patient reported the incident to EPD the next day through a sign language interpreter.
The patient said she had left her room to find one of her nurses. Once she left, an unidentified hospital technician saw her standing in front of another patient’s room, grabbed her by the gait belt, and forcibly pulled her backward. This caused the patient to fall and hit her head against the door.
Another nurse helped her up from the floor and arranged a precautionary CT scan, which revealed no abnormalities. The patient said she had no injuries or visible bruising from the fall.
The charge nurse was informed of the incident. Typically, hospitals are allowed to have cameras in the hallways as long as no patient rooms or private information is captured due to medical privacy laws. There was, however, no video footage in the hallway of the hospital available. Regardless, the patient wanted to document the incident and pursue possible criminal prosecution.
Arrest for Walton County Sheriff’s Office at EUH
A homeless man turned himself into EPD at EUH for being wanted in Walton County, Fla., on Jan. 25 around 5:30 p.m.
The man had an active arrest warrant from Walton County, Fla., for failing to appear to respond to a felony allegation, according to Shoemaker. EPD confirmed that the charge was still valid and searched the man. EPD then took possession of his personal property and took him to DeKalb County Jail.
The man has no affiliation with Emory.
Theft of lost or mislaid property at Clairmont Tower
A student reported to EPD on Jan. 27 that he lost his backpack, which he had left on the 18th floor of Clairmont Tower on Jan. 26. He had been studying in a common room until about 6:30 p.m. and then proceeded to use the bathroom, where he thinks he left his backpack. The student then went downstairs to meet his parents shortly before 7 p.m.
After his parents left, he returned to campus around 8:30 p.m. and realized he did not have his backpack. He went back to the 18th floor to check the bathroom, but the backpack was not there.
The backpack contained an HP laptop worth nearly $1,500. Property theft worth more than $1,500 is classified as a felony, for which you can go to prison for over a year and receive a fine over $1,000, according to Shoemaker.
The student gave EPD an extensive list of what the backpack contained, some of which might have resale value also included in EPD’s price estimate for classifying this as a misdemeanor or felony. Shoemaker said that EPD is actively investigating the theft.
