The Emory Wheel regularly meets with Emory Police Department (EPD) Records Manager Ed Shoemaker (87G, 90G) and Director of Campus Safety Communications Morieka Johnson (94C) 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.
Possession and use of drug-related objects
A Dobbs Hall resident advisor (RA) found drug paraphernalia while conducting a room check on March 31. Shortly before 9:30 p.m., the RA contacted EPD and told them the paraphernalia included rolling papers, a grinder with some residue and a glass bong that may or may not have contained tobacco.
The student violated the University’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse policy by possessing drug-related products, according to Shoemaker.
The RA turned the drug paraphernalia over to EPD, which referred the incident to Campus Life’s conduct process instead of pursuing a criminal prosecution because the resident was not at the scene and officers could not confirm who the products belonged to, according to Shoemaker.
The case is closed, as it is no longer under EPD’s discretion.
Jack Rutherford/News Editor
Criminal trespass, property damage
Shortly before noon on March 29, an EPD officer discovered several “outbursts of graffiti” on the walls around the amphitheater behind the Woodruff Health Sciences Administration Building, according to Shoemaker.
The graffiti depicted a face with the word “squid” next to it, as well as a couple of cartoon faces with fangs. The words “too far in” and another face looking over a wall were also illustrated.
Shoemaker said the drawings were a “fairly good size,” and the officer reported that at least one could be seen from the street.
EPD contacted Facilities Management, which removed the graffiti from the wall. According to Shoemaker, the cost of the property damage is unclear.
The case remains active.
Theft by taking
Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on March 28, a Nikon Corporation employee contacted EPD from the Whitehead Biomedical Research Building to report missing equipment.
Nikon makes microscopes researchers use in some of the labs in the Whitehead research building, according to Shoemaker.
The employee told EPD that she came to the research building around noon to swap out some “loaner parts” from a Nikon microscope that Emory owns. A research lab in the Whitehead building was using these loaner parts while the original parts were being repaired or replaced, Shoemaker said.
When the employee finished her work around 1 p.m., she placed the loaner parts in a cardboard box with a shipping label on it. She then put the box in a hallway near the room she had been working in.
The employee then received a phone call, during which she re-entered the room to work on a computer. When she returned to the hallway, the box containing the loaner parts was missing. She then proceeded to search the building, to no avail.
According to the Nikon employee, the parts were worth slightly more than $22,000. EPD has access to the loaner parts’ serial numbers, which Shoemaker said could help them track the parts down.
EPD has contacted Whitehead’s academic department personnel and the custodial staff to attempt to gather information about the missing box of equipment. The case remains active.
Stalking
At 4 p.m. on March 27, a female student noticed a male subject following her from Dobbs Hall to the front entrance of the Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC), according to Shoemaker.
The student entered the WoodPEC and the man did not follow her inside, but when she left the building around two hours later, the man was still outside. He then began to follow her up Asbury Circle to Cox Hall and asked for her phone number. The student did not oblige.
When the student entered Cox Hall, the man followed her inside and pulled out what the student described as “a lot of cash.” He handed her a $2 bill for “good luck” and said “I’ll see you at the Emory games,” according to Shoemaker.
The student said the man was wearing a green tracksuit, large green earrings and green contact lenses. She also said he was holding a cup with brown liquid inside.
Shoemaker said EPD received other reports about the man approaching women on campus.
Emory Communications sent a University-wide public safety notice on March 28 to inform the Emory community of the March 27 stalking incident and offer safety resources. The email includes eight risk reduction tips, such as walking in a group whenever possible.
“He was certainly making people nervous at the very minimum, and we wanted to circulate that information,” Shoemaker said.
EPD has video footage of the man and officers are working to identify him.
Alina Glass (she/her, 26C) is from Baltimore, Md. She is double majoring in psychology and anthropology. Apart from writing for the Wheel, Alina is the public relations chair for Circle K, a writer for the Association for Women in Science newsletter and a volunteer for Sprouting Readers. When she is not writing for the Wheel, Alina loves to run, bake and spend time with friends and family.
