Man reports bathroom-stall peeping

For Lawrence, it’s been an unusual day in the world of crime and punishment, with reports of blackmail, bathroom-stall peeping, disappearing bleachers, and a stolen church donation box.The details: ¢ Stall peeping: Lawrence Police are investigating a 20-year-old Lawrence man’s report that he may have been photographed or videotaped while he was in a bathroom stall at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt. The man told police he was using the restroom Tuesday evening on the library’s lower level when he heard someone enter the stall next to him, saw a pair of blue tennis shoes under the stall pointing toward his stall, heard a noise, looked up and saw a camera cell phone pointing down into his stall. He said the suspect ran out of the restroom. The only description police have of the suspect is the shoes. ¢Blackmail case: Police arrested a 29-year-old Lawrence man Wednesday night on suspicion of trying to blackmail a manager at Hampton Court apartments, 1704 W. 24th St. The manager told police the suspect called her on the phone, accused her of telling tenants at the complex that he was a drug dealer, told her he would sue her, and asked her what “peace offering” she was willing to give in order for him not to sue her. “She said she’d not made any statements and was not going to give him anything,” Lawrence Police spokeswoman Kim Murphree said. The manager’s husband also spoke to the suspect, and he repeated his threat, police said. Police contact the suspect and arrested him.¢Donation-box heist: For the second time this week, items have been stolen from a campus-area church. Between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday, an unknown person stole $40 cash and a $100 brass donation box that had been sitting beside votive candles at St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Rd. Earlier in the week, an office was burglarized at University Christian Fellowship, 1204 Oread Ave.¢ Bleacher-theft epidemic? : Six sets of bleachers belonging to the city have been stolen in recent days. Between June 14 and 16, four sets were taken from YSI, 4911 W. 27th St., and two were taken from the city tennis court at 800 W. 21st St. They were valued at $13,200 total. Earlier this week, Kansas University Police discovered that two sets of aluminum bleachers had disappeared from Shenk Fields at 23rd and Iowa streets.Other crime reports released by police today:¢ A fight involving three people Wednesday night at 2434 W. 24th Terr. sent a 28-year-old Lawrence man to the hospital with internal injuries and a possible stab wound, according to a report. Police said the victim started a fight with a 33-year-old Lawrence man after an argument about a purchase. The 33-year-old and a 27-year-old man then battered the 28-year-old. The injured man was screaming at staff members at Lawrence Memorial Hospital and police had a hard time discerning exactly what happened, LPD spokeswoman Kim Murphree said. Alcohol is listed on a report as a contributing factor.¢ A 19-year-old Lawrence man told police a man he didn’t know approached him and struck him with a beer bottle as he was getting out of his pickup truck Tuesday night at Meadowbrook Apartments near 15th Street and Crestline Drive. He was treated at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Police know who the suspect is but haven’t yet made contact with him, according to a report.¢ A 19-year-old Lawrence man lost $3,750 after cashing fraudulent U.S. Postal Service money orders, according to a report. The man told police he responded to an ad on the Internet that said he could make money by cashing the money orders, keeping 10 percent of the total, and sending the rest back to an out-of-country address. He received a batch of five money orders and cashed them at his bank June 7. Later, the bank contacted him to tell him they were fraudulent. The man received a second batch earlier this week and turned them over to police.¢ A 36-year-old Lawrence man sold a sofa, love seat and recliner through the Internet and later realized the money orders used to pay for the items were counterfeit. He lost $4,750.¢ A 61-year-old Lawrence man had a bicycle valued at $1,65 stolen between 7 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday from his home in the 3400 block of Riverview Road, according to a report. ¢ Eight vehicles were sprayed with black spray paint between Monday and Tuesday in the 1400 block of Westbrook Street, according to a report.