By Allison M. Strickland

Only days into the new semester, the Department of Public Safety issued a warning about an individual harassing students in and around the Fourth Street parking lots.

DPS issued a crime report on Jan. 12 reporting that a subject had been approaching U of L students and asking for a ride to his nonexistent vehicle. When the students and subject would arrive at the designated location, the subject would say that his car had been towed and proceed to pressure them for money.

The suspect is an African-American male in his 20s or 30s, and is possibly a homeless person who may frequent the north end of the Belknap Campus and the area around the Fourth Street parking lots.

Wayne Hall, the director of Public Safety, said there have been several reports of this person attempting to get rides from students, and that some students have let him into their vehicles. The last report was approximately a week and a half ago.

The Fourth Street lots are in an area surrounded by property that does not belong to the university. “We have two or three cameras over there on that lot, but what makes it hard is for us to determine who should be there and who shouldn’t be there,” said Hall.

The security officer who monitors the Fourth Street lots works from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and officers patroll the campus 24 hours a day. Most of the incidents have occurred in the evening.

Marcus Crumbacher, a senior CIS major, said that approximately one year ago a man approached him and asked him for a ride to his car. Crumbacher said of the subject, “He looked like he could have been a student …  coming from Bettie Johnson.”

Crumbacher drove the subject to a Shell station near campus. When they arrived, the man said he couldn’t find his vehicle, claiming his car had been towed. Crumbacher then drove him to an impound and the man went inside while Crumbacher waited outside in the car.

The man then came back out and claimed he didn’t have enough money to pay the tow fee. Crumbacher gave him $50 and the man told him he could be repaid by one of the subject’s friends at Gray’s Bookstore.

Crumbacher went to Gray’s and asked around, but no one knew what he was talking about.

“One of my residents actually approached me about this last semester, so I was concerned to see it was not an isolated incident,” said Michael D. Anthony, resident director of Louisville Hall. “The day before the crime alert was released, the apartment manager from UTA and I were discussing how one of her residents was victim to this very situation.”

“We want students to be aware of this man before these incidents turn into a crime,” said Major Kenny Brown, DPS assistant director.