Man arrested after harassing woman in Morris Library
October 31, 2017
A man was arrested on campus Tuesday after harassing a female student in Morris Library, SIU Police Chief Benjamin Newman said.
Students say the man was seen harassing people in various campus locations Tuesday and Monday night.
The man, who Newman would not identify, was described as a 6-foot tall white male between the ages of 20 and 25. He was wearing black sweatpants, a black hoodie, black shoes and a gray beanie, Emma Wallander, a senior from Green Bay, Wisconsin studying English, said.
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The man was also seen in a psychology lecture Tuesday morning in Lawson Hall, Wallander, one of two female students who filed the police report, said.
Wallander said the man had a box cutter tucked away in his hat.
The man was also at the Lew Hartzog Track & Field Complex last night, Wallander said, lying in the middle of the football field before a marching band rehearsal.
Caroline Page, a sophomore studying psychology from Bloomington, said she heard about the man after her friend, who preferred not to be named, was threatened by him in the library.
“The guy came up to this girl and showed him his box cutter and a brick he had in his backpack,” Page, the other student who filed the report, said. “He [said] he likes to watch girls on campus and he’s looking for ‘fresh meat.'”
Page said her boyfriend intervened and the man then said women “shouldn’t lick their lips because that’s why guys like [me] would want to rape them.”
The man’s presence on campus made Page feel in danger, she said.
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“I was sent a message that happened in the library,” Page said. “Before I started talking about it, Emma was like, ‘Was he wearing black sweatpants?’ and I said yeah, and then that’s when we knew that this was serious and it wasn’t a Halloween prank — so we reported it.
The man has been transported to Jackson County jail and the case is currently still under investigation.
Photography editor Brian Muñoz can be reached at bmunoz@dailyegyptian or on Twitter @BrianMMunoz.
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Michelle Norman • Oct 31, 2017 at 10:43 pm
Very upset that there was no alert sent out to students. Situations like this are exactly what SIU Alert is for. Many students could have been seriously injured, and I’m thankful that none were. As soon as the police were notified they should have sent out an email or text to keep students safe and informed.