News

Peeper raises awareness

by Bridget M. Rohrer
Editorial Assistant
and
Christie Reed
Staff Writer

Stu-Han resident’s awareness has been raised after three incidents of a Peeping Tom lurking around the residence hall have been reported over the last two weeks. The most recent incident, early yesterday morning has brought security closer to catching the perpetrator. This latest incident follows sightings on March 13 and 16.

A Hispanic male, approximately 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, was spotted by several residents of the Stu-Han, looking through their windows between the hours of 1 and 2:30 a.m, according to campus security.

“We were so close last night, we almost caught him,” said Bill Brown, the security officer on duty at the time of the latest incident.

Students who witnessed the perpetrator believe that they can identify him if the suspect is caught.

“We believe that the Peeping Tom may belong to housekeeping or may be a student, since they have late hours,” said Brown.

Brown, who was supposed to relieve Alex Buligan at 1 a.m. on March 13, was rushed to the hospital prior to his shift due to insulin shock. Neither Robert Rodriguez, chief of security and transportation, nor Buligan knew that Brown would not be available for his shift.

Therefore, nobody was on duty during the first incident, leaving ULV with what Rodriguez called “a management personnel problem.”

A call was made to security by a resident, Christina Tejeda, but there was no response from the officer who was scheduled to be on duty.

Questions about the failure of security to respond to the report have been raised. In a frantic attempt to get a response from someone, Tejeda dialed 911, which prompted the La Verne Police Department to answer the call.

“The Police Department should never have needed to be called but it was right what the students did,” said Rodriguez.

The LVPD did not have a log entry of the March 13 incident and the department claimed that there must not have been a report filed or any action taken.

According to Helena Gerstenberg, director of housing and residential life, and Leah Ann Caro, area coordinator of Stu-Han, the police responded promptly to the call but were unable to find the Peeping Tom.

The three incidents have led to new precautions implemented by campus security after the mistake last week.

“Between 1 and 2:30 a.m., we will be paying more attention to the area and we will also be having extra patrolling of the building,” said Rodriguez.

Brown said, “It is kind of hard when you are the only officer controlling the whole campus. You can’t be everywhere at once.”

Memos were sent out to all Stu-Han resident assistants, asking them to make all of their residents aware of the Peeping Tom.

Flyers have been posted on nearly every wall of the building advising residents to be “extra careful.” The flyers advise residents to keep blinds and windows shut, to maintain the ULV policy, “Safety First.”

“We barely missed him last night,” said Brown.

Security hopes to end the problem as soon as possible by using the witnesses to identify him.

Bridget M. Rohrer
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Christie Reed
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