Content Warning: This article contains references to suicide and sexual assault.
Disorderly conduct, arrest at Emory University Hospital
On Jan. 26, Emory Police Department (EPD) received a call at 3:30 a.m. from Emory University Hospital staff reporting a case of disorderly conduct. Hospital staff informed the responding officers that a patient who had already been discharged was refusing to leave the facility.
When officers arrived at the scene, the patient was causing a disturbance in the waiting room. She was making threats and cursing at patients and hospital staff.
Officers at the scene described the patient as “belligerently hostile,” according to EPD Records Manager Ed Shoemaker. When EPD officers confronted her, she refused to cooperate and demanded to speak with members of the Atlanta Police Department (APD). She then fled to the emergency room lobby and called the APD dispatch center, repeatedly demanding that APD officers be present.
During this time, the patient was still cursing and making threats. When EPD officers inquired what was causing her behavior, she said that a nurse “said something” about her mother and grandmother, Shoemaker said.
Eventually, EPD began to move the patient’s belongings in an attempt to relocate her outside of the facility. This caused her to become violent with EPD, so the officers proceeded to handcuff, search and arrest her.
After EPD completed the search, the officers brought her to the Atlanta City Detention Center, but the detention center refused to admit her due to medical concerns. According to Shoemaker, EPD officers tried to explain to jail administrators that she had just been medically discharged, but the detention center still refused. EPD officers gave the patient a citation for a future court date, and she was allowed to return home.
Under Georgia state law, officers have the option of either bringing the offender to jail or writing a citation for a follow-up court date when dealing with disorderly conduct. Disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor that can result in up to a year in jail time or up to $1,000 in fines.
False imprisonment outside Goizueta
EPD received a call at 11:25 a.m. on Jan. 25, asking officers to respond to an active instance of false imprisonment — a person intentionally restricting another person’s movement without legal authority — outside of Goizueta Business School.
When officers arrived at the scene, the dispute was ongoing and involved a middle-aged man who was grabbing onto the backpack of a male Emory student, preventing him from going to class. EPD officers proceeded to break up the physical altercation and interrogate both parties about the dispute.
According to the student, he was walking to class when he heard someone call him by his Chinese birth name from a distance, Shoemaker said. The student looked over and saw a man whom he did not recognize. The man, along with four other individuals, approached the student and asked him where he was going. The student replied that he had to go to class.
The man replied that the student “wasn’t going anywhere,” grabbing the student by his backpack and preventing him from fleeing, Shoemaker said. The student then immediately called EPD.
EPD asked the man why he grabbed the student. The man explained through the four individuals, who he brought as translators, that they have a complex history, despite never meeting in person before.
The man who grabbed the student is the father of a female Duke University (N.C.) student, who the Emory student previously dated. During the prior summer, the Duke student committed suicide. Although the Emory student had been cleared of any wrongdoing in the suicide, the father, who lives in China, was looking for closure by talking to the Emory student.
The father flew to the United States, came to Emory and tracked down the Emory student. The four individuals that the father brought to translate for him were all former friends of his daughter, with two being Emory students and two being University of Georgia students.
After learning about the nature of the altercation, EPD issued a criminal trespass warning to the bereaved father, barring him from being on Emory’s campus or using Emory facilities unless in the case of a medical emergency, Shoemaker said. If the criminal trespass warning is violated, officers could immediately arrest the individual.
The Emory student expressed interest in pressing charges. This is an active case and is currently under investigation.
Terroristic threats at Emory Clinic A
On Jan. 23 at about 10:30 a.m., EPD responded to a report of terroristic threats at the Emory University Hospital Clinic A. When EPD officers arrived at the clinic, they met with the individual who filed the report.
The reporting party was a contract employee who had only been working at the clinic for five days. She informed EPD that an employee at the clinic, who had been terminated the day before, had sent her harassing text messages.
The two individuals have “had some dealings” before, Shoemaker said. However, the nature of the prior relationship is unknown. The text messages that were sent were very aggressive and threatened the wellbeing of the reporting party, Shoemaker added. The reporting party has since sent transcripts of these messages to EPD records.
The employee has expressed interest in pressing charges out of fear for her safety. According to Georgia law, terroristic threats involve threatening to commit a crime or jeopardizing the safety of another person.
“Terroristic threats are differentiated from assault in Georgia law in that assault must be a threat made against a person while the person is right in front of them,” Shoemaker added.
Hazing at sorority lodge
EPD received an anonymous report of hazing at 11 Eagle Row, where the sorority lodges are located, on Jan. 17. Little information is known because the report is anonymous. However, EPD is still required to keep track of all reports in compliance with Georgia state law.
Under Georgia law, hazing is a crime and considered a “misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.”
According to the report, the hazing involved forcing new members to drink until they threw up on their bid day. The new members were then coerced into doing silly dances while being recorded on video, Shoemaker said.
The video has since been posted, and viewers of the video described the girls as appearing miserable and hungover, despite being forced to drink more, Shoemaker said. The only other known information is that this sorority has a history of hazing in this manner.
Eavesdropping, surveillance invasion of privacy at Wesley Woods Hospital
On Jan. 15 at 6:15 a.m., EPD responded to a complaint at Wesley Woods Hospital about a probable sexual assault incident.
EPD arrived at Wesley Woods and investigated the claim, but did not find evidence of a sexual assault. They learned that a male nurse who took inappropriate videos of a female patient, who was supposed to be under observation, without consent.
The male nurse took three videos on his phone and showed these videos to another individual in the hospital, Shoemaker said.
“Georgia law prohibits capturing one’s likeness on video, including recordings, without their consent, except in certain specified circumstances, such as police body cameras,” Shoemaker said. “A patient in a hospital does not qualify as one of those certain specified circumstances, and is therefore the basis of the charge.”
The videos were taken on a phone issued by the hospital to the nurse, and the nurse’s supervisor became aware of these videos and confiscated the phone. The supervisor then contacted EPD, who confirmed the existence of the videos.
This is an active investigation, and EPD has assigned an investigator to the case.
Theft of lost or mislaid property at ESC
On Jan. 24 at 1:20 p.m., EPD responded to a call reporting theft of mislaid property at the Emory Student Center (ESC). The value of the missing property is $1,500 or less.
“The call came from a female student who reported that she had set down her keys and wallet on a table in the student center for a minute, and when she came back, they were gone,” Shoemaker said. “Not an uncommon occurrence, I’m sorry to say.”
While the student was making the call to EPD, she received a notice from her bank that a credit card from her missing wallet was attempting to be used to make a transaction at the Emory Farmers Market.
The student rushed out of the ESC toward the farmers market to confront the suspected male student who was trying to use her card. The female student insisted that he give her the credit card back, which he initially refused to do. He eventually conceded and returned the card. When the female student demanded that the suspect return her other possessions, he denied having them and fled.
A bystander who was waiting in line at the farmers market also attested to this confrontation and tried to help the female student get her possessions back. They also took a picture of the perpetrator.
“We know what he looks like but we don’t know his name,” Shoemaker said.
EPD had sent out investigators to track down the perpetrator. Since then, the female student received a call from a friend, informing her that she had found the stolen possessions in Harris Hall. The female student immediately left the EPD station and collected all her belongings.
The student has chosen not to pursue criminal action since she has all her missing property.
If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide and are at Emory University, call Student Intervention Services at 404-430-1120. Emory’s Counseling and Psychological Services can be found here.
If you are outside of Emory, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 and access more information here. The Georgia Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be found here or at (800)-273-TALK.
If you have experienced sexual assault at Emory University, Title IX resources can be found here and Office of Respect resources can be found here.
If you have experienced sexual assault and are outside of Emory, call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or visit the online chat hotline here. The Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault (GNESA) can be found here. Grady Rape Crisis Center resources can be found here. Day League resources can be found here.
