The top five police beats of the 2017-2018 academic year
May 14, 2018
Most UNF students have probably walked away with many fond and happy memories of the 2017-2018 academic year, but others… maybe not so much.
Crime is nothing to grin about, but Spinnaker is here to review some of the craziest police beats over the last year, ranked top to bottom in chronological order.
A UNF student called UNFPD in regards to an email he received on Dec. 11, 2017. The sender of the email reportedly threatened that, if the student did not pay a certain amount of Bitcoin currency, he was going to be executed.
The police report states the email demanded the student had to pay 0.6 Bitcoin in two days, which is roughly $10,800 in USD. The student was targeted due to his activities that “caused inconvenience to some people,” according to the received email.
According to the police report, if the student paid the demanded amount of Bitcoin, the sender would give the student the name of the person who ordered the execution, along with any evidence the sender had.
Upon further investigation, UNFPD identified the sender and the owner of the GoDaddy account that the email was registered under. No further information about the registered owner could be found.
According to the police report, the student told police he wasn’t worried about the email being a real threat.
The same email was reportedly sent to someone else in North Port, Florida on the same day.
Police submitted a request for the records of this case, but there was no further action taken.
University officials arrested Joseph Alexander Menter for battery charges on Jan. 8, 2018 after a dispute on a Jacksonville Transportation Agency (JTA) bus was reported between Lots 9 and 10.
According to the police report, the confrontation took place when two female students missed their usual bus stop on campus and instead attempted to exit at the next stop, located near Osprey Landing.
The suspect, Joseph Alexander Menter, was reportedly witnessed speaking aggressively to the two female passengers without provocation, and the situation escalated when Menter began to yell and threaten to kill one of the two young women. Menter then reportedly followed them when they exited the bus and attempted to further pursue the confrontation.
According to the report, both Menter and the two girls were absent from the scene before UNFPD arrived. Later found walking on UNF drive, Menter reportedly denied ever being on the bus.
The report states that the two females were later located and denied knowing Menter prior to the confrontation on the bus and that neither of them was injured on the bus.
On Jan. 23, 2018, UNFPD was dispatched to Osprey Cove in response to suspicious activity in Lot 11.
According to the police report, a female UNF student was walking back to her dorm through Lot 11 when a vehicle approached her at a high speed.
Three men were reportedly in the vehicle, and the student described one as a male with a distinct Indian accent asking her to enter the vehicle and go with them. The student explained to officials that she walked away and responded, “I’m not getting in the car with you.”
It was reported that the vehicle then sped away in the direction of Lot 10.
According to officials, the suspects were possibly driving a silver Mustang with a hardtop, and the man who asked the female to get in the car was riding in the passenger seat.
Officials reportedly searched the area and found nothing.
Patrol efforts were suspended.
4) “Do You Like What You See?”
UNFPD responded to a report of indecent exposure in Lot 18 on Feb. 22, 2018.
The report states that a female student was approached by a white man on the walkway from Bldg. 58 to Lot 18, who pulled down his shorts and lifted up his penis, asking her “Do you like what you see?”
The report also states he pulled up his pants and ran in the direction of Bldg. 48. The student then reportedly contacted UNFPD.
Officials were reported to have searched the area but found no witnesses.
The student claimed she could identify the man if she saw him.
Patrol efforts have been suspended.
On Feb. 26, 2018, a student met with UPD to report threats he had received online.
The student reported the possibility that someone may contact UNF and make a “swatting call” to falsely threaten the campus under his name.
The student reportedly received these threats while playing an online game on Feb. 21. According to the student, another player became angry at the student during gameplay and threatened to get him kicked out of school for threatening the safety of other students.
The student believes that the player obtained his personal information through his online gaming profile.
According to the report, the harassment continued on Feb. 24.
The gamer’s username was reported as “EVISU”, while his real name is believed to be Alex M.
The case was still under investigation at the time of publication.
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