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 Raoul Hall
A female student notified EPD at about 10:00 p.m. on April 8 that a male student had assaulted her while she was trying to stop a physical altercation between her boyfriend and the male student on March 30.
The male student had been spreading rumors about the female student’s boyfriend being unable to enroll in the business school, Shoemaker said. The female student called the subject and asked him to stop spreading rumors, but the subject continued to spread them. She called the subject again, and they agreed to meet at 2:00 p.m. on March 30 at his room in Raoul Hall to settle the matter.
When the student and her boyfriend showed up at the subject’s room, he came to the door agitated, angry and began screaming abusive language at her and her boyfriend, according to the female student. She said she felt scared as the subject got in her face. The female student tried to calm the subject down, but was unsuccessful, leading to a physical altercation between the boyfriend and the subject, in which the subject shoved the girl’s boyfriend and ripped his shirt.
At this point, the female student tried to intervene, leading the subject to push her hand away, break her keychain and push her against the wall. The boyfriend ultimately separated the subject from his girlfriend.
The student waited slightly over a week to report the incident as she decided how to proceed. She contacted her resident advisor, who then contacted the complex director and the Title IX office. The female student then met with the Title IX office to discuss her options. The student is currently deciding whether or not to press charges.
Theft by deception at Clifton Road
EPD met with a student after an unknown individual scammed him at the intersection of Clifton Road and Gambrell Drive at roughly 2:50 p.m. on April 9. The student was on his way from the Emory University Law School to the Goizueta Business School, waiting at a light to cross the street, when an unknown man approached him. The student described the individual as an African American male wearing a red backpack and a black hoodie, with tattoos on his hands and neck.
The man asked to borrow the student’s cell phone so he could call his father. The student lent the man his phone, and briefly heard another male voice when the man made the call. The man then returned the phone to the student and headed up Clifton Road.
The student then proceeded toward his class, when about five minutes later he received a Venmo notification stating that someone had executed a $4,800 transaction from his account, which the student had not authorized. The student figured out what had happened and looked in the direction the man had walked away to find him running up Clifton Road towards Emory University Hospital, about two blocks from where they had met.
The student ran after the man and lost sight of him after the man turned into the hospital complex. The student started walking back toward Clifton Road, where he located the man going toward the business school. The student began to chase the man again, who slowed down momentarily to jump into a silver Nissan. The student grabbed the subject’s hoodie while the man was in the car. The vehicle then pulled off and started to drag the student for a couple of seconds before the student let go.
As soon as the driver pulled away, the student contacted EPD. The student declined EMS assistance and provided EPD with a possible license plate number, though EPD has not verified that it is the same man. EPD is currently working on the situation.
Theft by Deception at Emory University
An Emory student who resides off campus contacted EPD shortly before midnight on April 10 about a phone call they received earlier in the day while on campus. The student received a phone call from an unknown party who identified themself as “Agent Mary King” with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Shoemaker said he did not know if the student was an international student.
The caller told the student that their I-94 document, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection provides to all non-permanent immigrants upon entry, had been called into question and that ICE had flagged the student for deportation.
The supposed ICE agent told the student that this issue could be resolved by the student purchasing $950 in gift cards from the nearest Best Buy, taking a picture of the receipt and the cards with the codes scratched off and sending the codes to a specific phone number. The agent also instructed the student to provide updates on their progress. The student bought two Apple gift cards, one for $500 and one for $450, before sending the pictures to the number.
When the student returned to Emory, another supposed agent contacted her. The agent then directed her to obtain $1,250 in gift cards from Sephora. The student then received a second phone call during this conversation. The agent asked her who was calling, and after the student recited the phone number, the agent told her it was the Brookhaven Police Department (BPD) and instructed her to answer the phone.
The second unknown individual, who claimed to be a sergeant with the BPD, told the student the same information about her I-94 and that they would come and arrest her. The supposed sergeant then asked the student if the supposed ICE agent had contacted her, which the student confirmed. The supposed sergeant instructed the student to follow the agent’s instructions. The student then switched back to the line with the supposed agent, who confirmed that they had been in touch with the supposed sergeant from BPD. The supposed agent told the student to follow their instructions and contact them once they had collected the gift cards.
The student went to the nearest Sephora and bought gift cards worth $1,250. She then contacted the supposed agent back, who told her she should be careful when doing these transactions and not tell her family or anyone at Emory about the situation. The supposed agent then asked the student which banks they used and how much money they had in their bank accounts. At this point, the student was suspicious, so she sent the agent a picture of the receipt for the Sephora gift cards, but not of the cards themselves.
The student then contacted EPD and provided the department with screenshots of all interactions between the student and the supposed ICE agent. EPD reassured the student that under no circumstances would any legitimate state or federal government official ever ask for money to be transferred in this manner to resolve a legal issue.
Shoemaker said that EPD has confidence that there is no ICE agent named Mary King and no such sergeant with the BPD, although the unknown individual accurately mimicked the BPD phone number.
Earlier in April, ICE terminated the visas of three Emory alumni and one student.
