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Police Beat: Two thefts, visitor later dies in hospital, belligerent student calls cop a racist

Photo by Camille Shaw
Photo by Camille Shaw

The following information is according to reports from the UNF Police Department.

Man dies in hospital after being transported from UNF

A 58-year-old man died at St. Vincent’s Hospital May 2 after receiving treatment at Hodges Stadium earlier that day.

A UNFPD officer was dispatched to the stadium at 9:26 a.m. in reference to a sick person. When the officer arrived, the man was already receiving treatment, and he was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital. At the scene, it was not known whether his condition was life threatening.

The man died later that afternoon at 1:25 p.m. while receiving medical treatment at the hospital.

High school track athlete’s backpack stolen

A 16-year-old reported his backpack stolen on May 2. The backpack contained his phone, his wallet and his friend’s phone.

The 16-year-old left his backpack leaning against the fence near the building 46 practice field at around 8:45 p.m. He then went to go compete in the Florida High School Track and Field State Championships. When he returned about 30 minutes later, the bag was gone.

The bag contained his green iPhone 5c, his wallet containing his license and debit card and his friend’s LG Optimus F6 phone.

The victim’s parents canceled the debit card.

The case has been suspended because of what the police report calls “lack of solvability factors.”

Belligerent student gives UNFPD officer a hard time, calls cop a racist

A UNF student who was accused of pounding on the hood of another student’s car gave a UNFPD officer a hard time after having a few beers on April 30 at the Crossings.

The officer received a call at 11:30 p.m. in reference to a complaint of harassment.

The complainant said he had an altercation with the suspect in his room earlier that night. He said the suspect had been drinking alcohol, and he became very violent. He also reportedly threw a beer bottle against the wall outside of the complainant’s room.

The complainant and his friend, a female UNF student, left the area for a few hours. When they returned, they encountered the suspect again. The suspect then started pounding on the hood of the complainant’s car while yelling at him.

That’s when the complainant contacted UNFPD.

The complainant led the officer over to the suspect, who was in the lobby of the Crossings S building. The officer asked him for identification, but he told the officer he didn’t have any. The officer asked where his ID was, and he said, “I threw my wallet and my keys somewhere in the parking lot.”

The officer reported that the strong odor of alcohol was emanating from the suspect’s body. The suspect also appeared agitated. The officer asked the suspect if he had been drinking alcohol, but the suspect denied it.

The officer then escorted the suspect to his room where he became very belligerent while talking to the officer. The suspect said he is always in trouble, and he feels it’s because of his “brown skin.”

The officer asked the suspect to tell his side of the story.

The suspect said he was “pissed off” at the complainant, because the complainant had a female friend in his room who the suspect did not approve of. The suspect said he told the complainant not to invite the female to his room, but the complainant did anyway, which was why he was “pissed off.”

The suspect denied throwing the beer bottle against the wall.

The officer asked the suspect to look around for his ID, but the suspect didn’t look for it.

While the officer spoke with the suspect, he noticed a desk on the other side of the room with a glass pipe. The officer asked whose pipe it was, and the suspect said it belonged to his former roommate who moved out several weeks ago.

The officer then asked again if the suspect had been drinking, and the suspect said, “Yes, I had one beer.”

The officer said he smelled the strong odor of alcohol coming from him, and he didn’t believe he only had one beer. The suspect then said, “I had a few, maybe two or three.”

The officer asked if the suspect had taken anything other than alcohol, and he said no. The officer asked about the pipe again, and the suspect said it was sitting on the desk since his old roommate moved out.

At that point, the suspect’s current roommate, who was in the room for the whole conversation with the officer, said he wasn’t going to sit there and let the suspect lie about the former roommate and that the pipe belonged to the suspect. The suspect then admitted it belonged to him.

Once again, the officer asked if the suspect threw the beer bottle, but he denied it again. The suspect also denied pounding on the complainant’s car.

The officer asked why the suspect threw his keys and wallet in the parking lot, and he said, “I f****** got pissed and just threw them somewhere.”

The officer issued the suspect a Notice To Appear for possession of drug paraphernalia.

The complainant told UNFPD officer that the suspect sometimes uses cocaine. The complainant decided not to press charges as he signed a prosecution declination form.

The officer noted at the end of the report that the suspect continuously talked about how he was being singled out because of his skin color. He called the officer a racist, and said the officer was picking on him because of the color of his skin.

He went on to say that every time he is in trouble, it’s always about his skin color. He also said the officer called his friends “f****** white crackers.” The officer explained to the suspect that that was the officer’s first contact with the suspect, and the officer had never come in contact with the suspect’s friends.

Another theft at the track meet

A 70-year-old woman reported her wallet stolen on May 5.

The victim said on Friday, May 1, she attended the Florida High School Track and Field State Championships. At 4:30 p.m., she noticed her wallet was missing from inside her purse.

On May 4, an unknown suspect used her Merrill Lynch Visa card in Jacksonville and spent $700.

The victim canceled all of her credit cards. Patrol efforts have been suspended.

For more information or news tips, contact [email protected]; if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact [email protected].

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