Miami University Communications released three new Campus Crime Alerts over the past few days-totaling to five in under a week.
Campus Crime Alert #5 was released Monday after an alleged early Sunday morning aggravated robbery on Brown Road. Miami second-year Carl E. Hayden called the Oxford Police Department at 5:06 a.m., reporting to police that an hour before he had been held at knifepoint for his wallet.
Hayden told police that he was walking home to Hawk's Landing from a party when a male accosted him for money. Hayden said that he was "slightly buzzed" from the night's partying to the point where he thought, "everyone in the world was (his) friend."
As he pulled out his wallet and looked back, the attacker was, according to Hayden, wearing a ski mask and holding a knife in his right hand. Hayden alleges that as he was handing the attacker his wallet, he knocked down the knife, at which point it cut Hayden's stomach. Reportedly, the two were wrestling on the ground where Hayden sustained more cuts from the knife on his back.
After escaping back to his apartment, Hayden said he was reluctant to call police until a roommate advised him to do so. The robber supposedly took his wallet containing two or three dollars in cash.
Hayden described the assailant as a skinny white male wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, about 5'10" in height, with a mustache.
Though the case is the only Campus Crime Alert with a victim sustaining bodily harm, Hayden maintained that it is not the worst he has had to deal with.
"I'm from (Cincinnati), so I'm used to people walking around with weapons, and bums pan-handling for money," Hayden said. "But I was physically shaken up, and I was constantly looking over my shoulder the next day."
Hayden also said that he is involved with Mixed Martial Arts, and these skills aided him in throwing off his assailant Sunday.
But Hayden's case was not the only crime over the weekend. Saturday's Campus Crime Alert #4 alleged direct aggravated burglary of a Miami graduate student occurring at about 3 a.m. that morning. According to the police report, Lawrence D. Hilton was on his way home on South Poplar Street from uptown when two white males followed him into his apartment. One of the assailants punched Hilton in the face and left the apartment. The second attacker then engaged Hilton in a fight when he then repeatedly used racial slurs. After the second attacker left the apartment subsequent to the struggle, Hilton then ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and chased the subject away.
This incident marks the seventh incident of the Campus Crime Alerts involving burglary on the south side of the Mile Square in Oxford.
Lt. Andrew Powers of the Miami University Police Department said that although the string of burglaries are similar by case, it is still too early to speculate whether all the cases were perpetrated by the same individuals.
"Theoretically, they could all have been different people," Powers said. "It's just too early to speculate."
And yet, the weekend was host to the third Campus Crime Alert Friday after first-year Frederick Meyer reported to MUPD Thursday evening that he had found his room door open and his laptop computer missing. The Brandon Hall resident and his roommate Eric D. Ramirez told police that they had left their room around 6 p.m. Frederick reported to officers that he had locked the door to his room, but that he wasn't sure if the door was completely closed.
When the two returned around 7 p.m., Frederick's Macintosh computer was gone along with Ramirez's matching computer charger. The burglars did not take the Ramirez's Macintosh laptop or any other electronic device.
"Honestly, I still feel safe (in Oxford), but the crime is running rampant here," Frederick said.
Through another weekend of heightened criminal activity, OPD Sgt. Squance said that there would be an increase in patrol in Oxford's Mile Square over weekends. Squance also said that it is crucial for students to practice general safety codes-locking doors and windows, not walking alone and staying in well-lit areas at night.
Because so few of the Campus Crime Alert cases have physical descriptions of the assailants, Squance said that increased patrol around uptown is key to limiting criminal activity in Oxford.
"The main target is the over consumption of alcohol," Squance said. "Between Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, there is a sharp increase in noise, vandalism, assaults, and suspicious activity."
