UA Area Oct. 11, 4:06 p.m.
A group of young men were found using a UA gym as both a sports facility and a toilet, according to a UA Police Department report.
An officer was dispatched in reference to unwanted persons in the Ina Gittings gym, 1737 E. University Blvd., and entered the building to find seven high school-age boys playing basketball in the dark. They stated that they didn't know if they had permission to play there, but they had been doing so for the past few months; a "lady in McKale" had been lending them a basketball, they said.
Stepping into the hallway on the southwest side of the gym, the reporting officer noticed a puddle of urine on the floor. Another officer noticed a second puddle. When the boys were questioned individually, one claimed to be a witness and singled out two of his companions as the urinators. The first suspect admitted to the urination, but the other boy insisted that his accuser had been lying. "I say a lot of things," the second suspect said for emphasis, "but that doesn't make it true."
Five of the boys were banned from the building; the suspected urinators were cited and released to their mothers.
Motel Mischief
East Benson Highway Oct. 2, 11:08 a.m.
A motel employee cleaning out the room of an evicted guest found items suggestive of some serious--and not-so-serious--criminal activity, a Pima County Sheriff's Department report stated.
The owner of the Benson Motel, 3314 E. Benson Highway, reported she locked a tenant out of his room for nonpayment. When the housekeeper went into the former tenant's room to collect left-behind items, he found a box full of cell phones, syringes, various pharmaceuticals, shredded credit cards--seven of which had been taped together--and a plastic bag containing several pieces of mail belonging to various people. There was also a box of what appeared to be explosives and several AA watch batteries.
The mail was signed over to a postal inspector; the cell phones and credit cards were taken into custody as evidence. As for the syringes and medications, the motel staff was advised to "do what they normally do" with those types of items.
Upon closer inspection, one sheriff's deputy at the scene found that what were assumed to be explosives were, in fact, model-rocket parts that had the word "explosives" written on them. While these items can be dangerous if not used properly, the deputy noted, they are sold to children at hobby stores. It is not known what the suspect had planned for them.
