Fraternity antics; alleged drug-toting bicyclist escapes police; why wasn’t apparently drunken truck passenger arrested?; auto buglaries in Pinkney, Old West Lawrence neighborhoods

Ah, it’s that time of year when U-Haul trucks line the streets and you can’t walk a block without spotting a couch on a curb. Yep, the students are on their way — and with them will surely come a few antics to write about.

We had one seemingly harmless incident occur last night. Journal-World reporter Conrad Swanson told me that sometime during his evening shift Tuesday a group of fraternity men were reported for chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” at oncoming cars for a bit. But Conrad said the rowdy bunch “skedaddled before long” and no criminal action was taken. Ah, college.
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Remember that seemingly drunken passenger at the scene of the truck fiasco last week? Many of us were baffled he was never arrested for his behavior, so I spoke with Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley yesterday on the topic. He cleared a few things up for me.

McKinley said that a while back, police used to be able to arrest folks on suspicion of disorderly conduct a lot easier. But in recent years, he said, courts have decided that fighting words are really required — or words used to incite a fight — to have probable cause to prosecute a person for disorderly conduct.

Though I saw the man, whom police described as “highly intoxicated,” agitate and call a lot of people — children included — names, that conduct may not be considered “fighting words” in a court of law. Compare it with the Westboro Baptist Church; we may be offended by its messages, but the courts have found time and again that its words are protected speech under the First Amendment.

I also reported that I saw the man head-butt another man, but in order to prosecute that, McKinley said, the victim would have to be willing to file a police report and testify against the man, which is a big, long process. As for the public urination incident, McKinley said that’s hard to prove if an officer didn’t see it. Plus, I think the police had bigger fish to fry with getting that massive Chevy off the sidewalk railing.


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Now the passenger may not have been arrested for his behavior, but another man allegedly causing a ruckus at Lawrence Memorial Hospital was Monday night.

About 11 p.m., police were called to the LMH emergency room to deal with an allegedly drunken man who was accompanying a woman being treated for an injury. The man reportedly got out of hand, being verbally abusive to hospital staff and even a patient. When officers arrived, the man allegedly told them he “would not leave under any circumstances,” McKinley said. He was therefore arrested on suspicion of trespassing and removed from the hospital.

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The following story sounds like one we heard in Lights & Sirens last week at the Super 8.

A male bicyclist around 9:30 p.m. Monday was stopped on the street — I’m not sure where — for a traffic infraction, Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said.

An officer began searching a backpack the man had (though I’m not clear on why.) As the officer was going through the bag, the man allegedly hopped back on his bike and darted away.

He must have been one fast pedaler, because the officer lost sight of him by the time the officer had “secured the evidence” and attempted to give chase, McKinley said.

The officer allegedly found drugs and drug paraphernalia inside the backpack. They’ll be sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigations for testing.

The man ended up getting away, but officers continue to search for him. Apparently he’s a parolee.

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There was a disturbance with weapons called in at 9 p.m. Monday after a man came to someone’s home and began arguing with the resident about owed money. The resident called police and said that the man “was known to carry brass knuckles” and had warrants for his arrest, so police responded. But as it turns out, officers did not find probable cause to arrest anyone and there were no warrants out for the man’s arrest. “Metal knuckles” are listed as a banned weapon in Kansas criminal statutes.

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There apparently were a ton of auto burglaries early Tuesday morning. Yesterday, I’d reported that there were NINE of them reported Monday night into Tuesday morning. McKinley said the nine burglaries were “generally located in the Pinckney and Old West Lawrence neighborhoods. Officers have identified “several suspects” and continue to investigate the incidents. McKinley didn’t know yesterday whether the vehicles were locked or where they were parked, but I’ll check up with him again today.

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I’m still working to figure out what happened around 15th and Lawrence Avenue Monday night to cause a lot of emergency response. I’ve spoken with a lot of you who inquired, so just know I haven’t forgotten. I hope to have an answer soon.

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And now for our regular roundup of police calls. As always, I’ll remind you that this is a list of noteworthy calls I pulled from the Lawrence Police Department call log. Not all calls yielded police reports, and many may have gone unsubstantiated. The list is meant to give you an idea of what kinds of calls police are responding to within a given time period.

This list is a collection of calls that police responded to between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

Violence

– Disturbance (verbal or physical arguments): 5

– Domestic disturbance: 5

– Battery: 1

• Fight in progress: 1

• Criminal threat: 1

Traffic

– Noninjury accident: 13

Medical

– Medical: 4

– Suicide threat: 2

Drugs

• Drug activity: 2

Miscellaneous

– Suspicious activity: 5

• Suspicious activity with weapons: 1

– Noise/Nuisance: 5

• Runaway: 2

Property crimes

– Burglary: 1

– Theft: 3

– Stolen vehicle: 1

– Trespassing: 9