The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

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The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

Student arrested after battering UCPD officer

UCPD officers handcuffed a student outside the Regenstein Library on Wednesday evening.

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Officers from the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) arrested a second-year student outside the Regenstein Library Wednesday evening.

The student was handcuffed and taken into custody after striking a UCPD officer, but has not been charged with any crimes, according to a statement by a University spokesperson.

Around 6:15 p.m., two UCPD officers were patrolling East 57th Street in response to reported suspicious activity near the bike rack by the library. The two officers approached a man nearby who matched the description of the reported suspect.

As the police questioned him, the man, later confirmed by the Dean-on-Call to be a University student, refused to produce identification. According to an email from a University spokesperson, the man became angry and struck out when an officer extended an arm. He was then handcuffed and taken into custody to avoid any further battery.

A student who observed the arrest said that six to seven UCPD cars were on the scene and about 12 officers responded to the incident.

Witnesses said the man called to the crowd during his arrest, asking them to “Take a picture of me!” He also shouted that the UCPD should not touch him while he was being searched and that he was a student at the University. The man also alleged that the arrest was racially motivated.

“He was being incendiary,” another witness said. “In general, I think he had an attitude of disbelief.”

Though the UCPD was not able to find the student’s identification, they did find ripped pages from library materials in the student’s possession. Library officials have declined to press charges.

The Dean-on-Call was present during the interactions between UCPD supervisors and the arrested student, following newly revised protocol.

The protocol was revised after the arrest of Mauriece Dawson (A.B. ’10) in February 2010 in the Regenstein Library, when students called for the promotion of the Office of Campus and Student Life’s Dean-on-Call Program.

Following Dawson’s arrest, an Independent Review Committee released a 17-page report, which included criticisms of the Dean-on-Call program. An ad hoc committee formed after Dawson’s arrest addressed the protocol.

The incident has been referred to the Dean of Students without the student being charged.

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