The following accounts were provided by Investigator Patrick Reilly of Binghamton’s New York State University Police.
Students smoke in the woods
SUNDAY, Dec. 3, 4:45 p.m. — An officer doing a walk-through of the Nature Preserve noticed the odor of marijuana and observed a group of individuals who appeared to be smoking. He approached the group and noticed a large puff of smoke around the head of a male. The officer identified the individuals as students, and asked if they’d been smoking marijuana. The students admitted they’d been smoking marijuana earlier, but said they were smoking Juul electronic cigarettes when the officer approached them. The officer educated the group on the hazards of smoking marijuana on campus. The students were not charged.
Omega Zeta pledges threaten student
MONDAY, Dec. 4, 10:15 a.m. — An 18-year-old male contacted UPD to report harassment from his roommate. The victim said his roommate was pledging an unrecognized fraternity known as Omega Zeta in November. According to the victim, his roommate and two other students in the roommate’s pledge class threatened him with metal butter knives taken from the dining halls. The victim said the suspects, three 18-year-old males, put the knives to his throat and told him not to tell anybody about them pledging Omega Zeta. According to the victim, the threatening behavior escalated in the following weeks. The victim said the suspects would approach him and place him in a chokehold for so long that he would almost pass out. The victim said the suspects also harassed him verbally, and that he feared for his life. He continued to get abused no matter how many times he spoke up and, according to the victim, the harassment began to affect his schoolwork. Between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., officers arrested all three of the suspects on multiple counts, including criminal menacing, criminal harassment, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal obstruction of breathing and airflow. An order of protection has been issued for the victim against the three suspects. The suspects will appear in Vestal Town Court.
Hit-and-run driver located
MONDAY, Dec. 4, 7:35 p.m. — A 19-year-old male contacted police to report a hit-and-run in Lot W. According to the male, his vehicle had been hit between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The vehicle had heavy damage on the passenger-side door and fender, and the passenger-side door wouldn’t open. Officers searched the area and found a piece of black plastic from the suspect’s vehicle. Officers identified the vehicle and its owner and located the suspect, a 19-year-old female, at her residence in Downtown Binghamton. She received two tickets for unsafe backing and leaving the scene of an accident, and will appear in Vestal Town Court.
Officers find stun gun in student’s dorm room
TUESDAY, Dec. 5, 12:30 a.m. — An officer was in Digman Hall of Dickinson Community following up on a prior incident when he heard several individuals arguing in the first-floor men’s bathroom. He entered the bathroom and observed a group of males, one of whom was holding a plastic container. The container held “Triple X Xtract,” a type of THC oil. The male was identified as an 18-year-old student, and another individual told the officer that the argument had started over the plastic container. The individual told the officer that he had purchased the THC oil but had discovered that the container was only half full. Further investigation produced roughly 40 containers of THC oil from the suspect’s dorm room, along with concentrated THC wax and a stun gun. The suspect was arrested and remanded to the Broome County Jail. His bail has been set at $3,000 cash, and he will appear in Vestal Town Court.