2008 Woodie Awards
Residence hall vandalized last week
Bailey McBride
Issue date: 8/27/08 Section: News
A Ft. Worth, Texas resident was arrested at the Buchanan-Droke residence hall Aug. 21 and charged with first-degree criminal mischief for dismantling a camera. Cameron Young Jr. is facing a Class C felony charge which can carry up to a $10,000 fine and no less than three years in jail.
Housing staff noticed a camera broken on the ground and wires pulled off a door at the Buchanan-Droke residence hall early Thursday morning. Reggie Hauser, assistant director for facilities administration from the University Housing department, reviewed the security tapes for the building and saw an individual come up and dismantle the camera the night before.
Hauser then contacted Wes Henry, president of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. The Phi Delta Thetas are currently occupying Buchanan-Droke while their house goes through extensive renovations during the fall semester.
"The Phi Delta Theta members and leadership were extremely helpful and cooperative in identifying the responsible individual," Hauser said.
Through review of the tapes, Henry was able to identify that the individual involved was not a member of the fraternity but was let into the dormitory by a member.
"We tried to do everything we could to help the housing department and the UAPD," Henry said.
The individual, later identified as Young, was invited back over to Buchanan-Droke where he met with fraternity and housing officials, Hauser said. Young admitted to ripping out the camera but denied causing any damage to the door and that he was not a student, Hauser said.
Young was then arrested by UAPD and taken to the Washington County jail where he was booked and held. Because of to the extensive amount of damage done to the camera, Young was charged with a Class C Felony, said Gary Crain, public safety commander for the UAPD. In Arkansas, any criminal mischief or vandalism in excess of $500 in damage is considered a felony.
"That's a pretty serious charge," Crain said.
When incidents occur, UA Housing first tries to go through alternative means before calling UAPD, Hauser said. Since Young was not a student, he could not be punished through the Judicial Board or fines on campus and thus was turned over to the police department, he said
"Housing is not out to get you and we don't just fine you like a traffic fine," Hauser said. " We just want the property value replaced so other students don't have to pay for what the responsible party messed up." Hauser listed many other ways the residence hall cameras help on-campus residents, such as theft charges and finding lost laundry.
The camera cost more than $500 dollars and four hours of work to replace. The Phi Delta Thetas will face no negative consequences because their members were not involved with the crime, Hauser said.
Housing staff noticed a camera broken on the ground and wires pulled off a door at the Buchanan-Droke residence hall early Thursday morning. Reggie Hauser, assistant director for facilities administration from the University Housing department, reviewed the security tapes for the building and saw an individual come up and dismantle the camera the night before.
Hauser then contacted Wes Henry, president of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. The Phi Delta Thetas are currently occupying Buchanan-Droke while their house goes through extensive renovations during the fall semester.
"The Phi Delta Theta members and leadership were extremely helpful and cooperative in identifying the responsible individual," Hauser said.
Through review of the tapes, Henry was able to identify that the individual involved was not a member of the fraternity but was let into the dormitory by a member.
"We tried to do everything we could to help the housing department and the UAPD," Henry said.
The individual, later identified as Young, was invited back over to Buchanan-Droke where he met with fraternity and housing officials, Hauser said. Young admitted to ripping out the camera but denied causing any damage to the door and that he was not a student, Hauser said.
Young was then arrested by UAPD and taken to the Washington County jail where he was booked and held. Because of to the extensive amount of damage done to the camera, Young was charged with a Class C Felony, said Gary Crain, public safety commander for the UAPD. In Arkansas, any criminal mischief or vandalism in excess of $500 in damage is considered a felony.
"That's a pretty serious charge," Crain said.
When incidents occur, UA Housing first tries to go through alternative means before calling UAPD, Hauser said. Since Young was not a student, he could not be punished through the Judicial Board or fines on campus and thus was turned over to the police department, he said
"Housing is not out to get you and we don't just fine you like a traffic fine," Hauser said. " We just want the property value replaced so other students don't have to pay for what the responsible party messed up." Hauser listed many other ways the residence hall cameras help on-campus residents, such as theft charges and finding lost laundry.
The camera cost more than $500 dollars and four hours of work to replace. The Phi Delta Thetas will face no negative consequences because their members were not involved with the crime, Hauser said.
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