04-14-2009DisturbanceMayes Student Life CenterAt 12:40 p.m., DPS responded to a disturbance call from the cafeteria in the Mayes Student Life Center. When the officer arrived, a member of the kitchen staff met him and pointed out students that were being disruptive.

The officer approached a female student that was pointed out by the kitchen staff, and the student immediately became verbally aggressive. The officer kept repeating to the student that he just needed to talk to her about the incident, but the student kept walking away saying that it didn’t matter now because the altercation was over. The student kept refusing to comply with the officer, saying that he had better let her go so that she could go to class. She said that she would contact the officer after her class. The officer still insisted that she remain behind to speak to him while her two friends, that were accompanying her, go to class. One friend left while the other remained with the female. The female and her friend continued to walk passed the officer into Lot 25, where they tried to get into a silver Chevy Malibu. The DPS officer contacted the security office for another officer to contact the other students who were involved in the disturbance.

DPS eventually talked the female in question into getting out of the Chevy where she immediately became increasingly noncompliant and aggressive towards the officer. She got really close to the officer and began to yell while pointing a finger in his face. She threatened the officer, saying that he needed to move his security vehicle out of her way because she was going to class. The officer attempted to detain the individual by placing her up against the Chevy and placing her in handcuffs because she was so aggressive. The student struggled with the officer while he was detaining her and the officer could only get her left hand into the cuffs. The student used her right hand to grab her cell phone out of her pocket and dial 911. After the 911 operator picked up the phone, the female said: “Help me! I’m being assaulted by a police officer.” She then handed the officer her cell phone saying: “It’s 911 and they want to talk to you.” The officer took the phone from her and spoke to the Joplin Communications Department where he explained that the student was being uncooperative and was being detained. The 911 operator said that they figured that is what the officer was doing and they sent a Joplin police officer to assist.

The officer walked the female student to the back of the security truck where he asked her to sit down on the tailgate and talk to him. She did so but then immediately stood back up, and then sat down and stood up again three more times, saying each time that the officer better stop treating her like a dog. She then looked over to her friend and told her to get the cell phone so that the student could call her dad. The student’s friend dialed the phone and placed it on the student’s ear. After speaking with her father for a moment, she looked at DPS and said, “my dad wants to talk to you.” The officer got on the phone and spoke to the girl’s father who asked why the girl had been detained. The officer explained the situation and the father requested that the handcuffs be taken off of his daughter. The officer told the father that he could not do that until the girl was to calm down. The father said that he understood and then requested to speak to his daughter again.

When the female was done speaking to her father, she told the DPS officer that she would comply with his requests. She was released from the handcuffs but then refused to give the officer her student I.D. or her driver’s license. She said that she did not know why the officer would need that information, but then understood when the officer explained that it was just for documentation purposes. The officer then asked what the problem was in the cafeteria.

The student said that she was sitting down eating lunch with two friends when she saw an individual, sitting at the table across from her, point to her and say something quietly to another student. When the other student kept pointing at the female student and talking quietly to their peers, she walked over to the table and asked what the problem was. The female said that the student’s said that they did not know there was a problem. As the female walked away from the table, she heard the student say: “I’ll whip your ass.” The female student said she turned around and said: “Well then, do it right now.” The student told the officer that she had told all that had happened and she was let go.

InformationFred Hughes StadiumAt 5:30 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a white Nissan that was parked in the football stadium parking lot on the report that there was the smell of marijuana exiting the vehicle. DPS made contact with the owner of the vehicle who said that his wife was in the car smoking a clove cigarette. The officer smelled the inside of the car and did not smell marijuana. The officer then looked at the car owner’s wife and did not see that she was suffering the effects of marijuana. The case was dropped.

04-15-2009Injured PersonMcCormick HallA DPS officer was dispatched at 12:42 p.m. to McCormick Hall of the report of an injury. A visiting student from a local high school suffered from a dislocated knee. The student said that she was turning around to take a picture of a dorm room door when her knee popped and gave way, causing her to fall. METS was contacted and transported the student to a local hospital. The student’s school counselor was on hand to notify the student’s parents.

Vehicle AccidentLot 23/ South ApartmentsAt 5:45 p.m., DPS was called to the scene of a vehicular accident in Lot 23 involving two students. Driver One said that he was leaving campus and just driving slowly down a lane when Driver Two backed out of a parking space and hit his car. Driver One said that he sped up when he realized that he was about to be hit because he would have rather been hit in the rear than in the middle of his car. He claimed to have sped up to about 10 miles per hour before being hit.

Driver Two told DPS that she was backing up out of the parking space but had stopped halfway to let traffic go by. She then said that she began backing up and heard a crunch as she hit Driver One’s car.

Vehicle One, a white Ford F-150, sustained damage in the form of scratches and a dent towards the rear of the bed on the driver’s side.

Vehicle Two, a White Ford Mercury (Taurus), sustained rear end damage on the right side of the bumper in the form of scratches.

Both driver’s were free of injury.

04-16-2009InformationLot 22/ Main LotDPS received a call from a person at 12:47 a.m. who complained that someone was standing next to his car and he was afraid that the person may try to damage the car. The DPS officer arrived at the scene to see the strange individual get into a white Infiniti. The officer was unable to see the license plate number. The caller’s car, a black Lexus, was not damaged.

03-27-2009TheftLeggett & Platt Athletic CenterA Southern sports coach called DPS and reported the theft of a silver JVC camcorder, valued at $280, from the right hand drawer of his desk. The camcorder was last seen on March 27 before noon and discovered missing on April 14 at noon. The coach said that the desk was not locked, but his office always is when he is not in it. This incident is still under investigation.

Suspicious PersonsLeggett & Platt Athletic Center Parking LotAt 12:46 p.m., DPS responded to calls concerning a suspicious person in the L&P parking lot looking in car windows. The officer contacted the person who made the call on arriving at L&P and found out that the suspicious person was a white male who was looking in each window around the place where VIN numbers are placed. The caller said that it looked like the suspect was picking only Ford pickups. When the caller walked towards the suspect, he jumped into a silver four-door Buick and left the area. The caller did get the license plate number and gave it to the officer.

A student approached the officer and said that he to saw that suspect and that he was about 6 foot tall and about 210-20 pounds. He was also wearing a blue jacket.

With the license number, the DPS officer was able to run the plate and get the name of the owner of the vehicle. The person was not a Southern student. There has been no further threat from the suspect at press time.

04-18-2009Hit and RunLot 22At approximately 1:20 p.m., a DPS officer heard the squealing of tires and a loud crash coming from the Lot 22 parking lot. The officer arrived to see the dark blue- or black- vehicle leaving the area going East on Julie Hughes Drive. No other vehicles were in motion in that parking lot during the wreck. The officer radioed for assistance.

When the officer arrived, the two began writing down license plate numbers and assessing the damage. The officers decided that there was only one way that this damage could take place and that it had to be the fleeing blue-black car that was the culprit.

A Ford Expedition suffered a foot long scrape on the right rear bumper. The left rear bumper also had scrapes and was pushed down so far as to damage the rear taillights. A Chevy Camaro had damage to the right rear quarter panel and right rear taillight. The officers were unsure of any damage to the fleeing car. There were no injuries.

Two students approached the officers and said that they also saw a blue-black car fleeing the scene. Each car’s owners were contacted by DPS. There was no new information at press time.

04-19-2009Property DestructionLot 10At approximately 1:10 a.m., a DPS officer was securing a check of the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center when she noticed a red Ford F-150, with Missouri plates, running over the curb. The officer began walking toward the car when she then heard the truck smash into a faculty and staff parking sign. The officer then noticed the truck backing up, turning its wheels, and running up another curb to knock down another sign in the median. The truck then kept going down to the stop sign at Lantern Drive where he turned right, going Northbound. The officer immediately got into the security truck and began to follow. The officer caught up with the destructive individual while going Northbound on University Parkway and then North on International Avenue. The truck then crossed Newman Road, proceeding on International, where the officer lost him.

The officer found the truck parked in Lot 25 where she was able to get the license plate number and find out the student’s name. The officer learned that the student lived in Blaine Hall and then contacted the Resident Director to locate the student’s room.

The R.A. accompanied the officer to the student’s room where they spoke to one of the student’s roommates. The roommate claimed not to know whom the offending student was. The officer requested to search every room and the student agreed, as long as they stayed out of his personal room because there was a girl present who was staying the night.

The officer did not find the offender and pictures were taken of the damage. More information on this ongoing investigation was not present at press time.

04-20-2009TrespassingDryer HallAt approximately 9:50 p.m., a DPS officer was dispatched to Blaine Hall on the report that a ex-student, who was recently suspended for various liquor violations, was trespassing at the dorms. The student, according to DPS, was told not to come back to the dorm area of Southern at the time of suspension.

The R.A. of Blaine Hall was with the offending individual when DPS arrived at the scene. The offender told the officer that he was only there to pick up his things and to check his e-mail. While the offender was saying this, the officer noticed a slow reaction time and slurred speech, indicating the effects of alcohol abuse. The officer told the offender that if he needs to come back to campus for any reason then he needs to contact DPS first for an escort. The officer also told him that he had one week to completely clean out his dorm room. A friend of the offender stopped by the room and began to talk to his friend. The friend, who is a Southern student, told the officer that he would give the offender a ride to wherever he needed to go.

At 10:55 p.m., DPS received a call from Dryer Hall on the report that the same person, the ex-student, was passed out at the bottom of the steps in the North side common area of Dryer Hall. Officers arrived a Dryer Hall and spoke with the offender who was even more drunk than he appeared earlier. When asked where his friend, the Southern student, was and the individual refused to answer. The offender then reported having chest pains. The officer asked him if he was okay and the individual said that he had a “BS medical condition with a long ass name” and that he would be fine. The offender said that it was common and happened once a month. The offender refused an ambulance before appearing to react to some sort of pain. The officer called EMS to be safe.

An officer from JPD showed up and went through the offender’s pockets where he found money and a package of Stacker pills. He did not have an I.D. on him.

Paramedics arrived and began to take the offender’s vitals. When asked if he wanted to go to the hospital, the offender looked around the room to get everyone else’s opinions. The DPS officer told him that it was his decision. The offender finally agreed to go to the hospital and he left in an ambulance.

Vehicle AccidentLot 11DPS was dispatched to Lot 11, near Leggett and Platt Gym, where there was a reported vehicular accident. Vehicle One backed out of a parking space into another car, damaging Vehicle Two’s passenger side. The driver of Vehicle One did not have a valid driver’s license or proof of insurance at the time of the accident.