The University Record, November 15, 1999 By Rebecca A. Doyle
Counterfeit bills still in circulation
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is still working on several cases involving counterfeit currency. In last month’s report, counterfeit $20 bills had been reported at both Wendy’s and Subway in the Michigan Union. On Oct. 15, DPS officers received a report from the cash office at the Michigan Union that suspicious bills had been found in a cash drop made by East Quadrangle, Couzens and Stockwell residence halls.
DPS Deputy Director James Smiley says that the Ann Arbor Police Department also has reported finding counterfeit bills. “If you receive a $20 bill that looks different or feels different, be suspicious,” he says. Smiley urges anyone who thinks they may have counterfeit bills to call DPS, 763-3434.
Argument over parking spot leads to aggravated assault
No charges have yet been filed, but DPS officers are looking into an incident Oct. 23 in which a 68-year-old woman allegedly was pushed over and injured by a car in University parking lot S-5, on Monroe St. near State St. The woman reported neck pain and headaches as well as bruises on her leg after she fell to the ground.
The woman told officers she was saving a parking spot, and had set up a chair in it while she waited for a friend to claim the space. An argument began when a Detroit man tried to park his vehicle in the space and the woman refused to move. He allegedly backed into her, tipping over the chair.
DPS officers are investigating the complaint, and the case is pending.
Three vehicle thefts reported in October
Three automobile thefts were reported in October, one unfounded. In that incident, reported Oct. 15, a man reported that he had parked a 1993 Plymouth Voyager in the 600 block of East Madison and returned an hour later to find it missing. The minivan, which belonged to the man’s mother, had been parked illegally and was towed.
In a second reported theft, a student had obtained authorization to use a University vehicle for a field trip and then continued to use it and kept the keys. The incident is under investigation.
The third vehicle reported missing at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 22 was a 2000 Jeep Cherokee that was parked near the Michigan League in lot N9. The owner, a staff member, parked the car and walked away from the lot, then turned and saw the car being driven away. DPS officers reported the vehicle stolen in the national computer database within an hour, but the vehicle was not discovered until Oct. 26, when Michigan State Police officers recovered it on I-94 near Rawsonville Road. The vehicle had been damaged.
Suspect in custody after theft of wallet, credit cards
A staff member in the 300 N. Ingalls Bldg. reported Oct. 18 that a wallet, checkbook and credit cards had been taken from her purse. She promptly canceled her credit cards and notified creditors. In talking with them, she found that $500 had been withdrawn from an account. On Oct. 20, the wallet and some cards were found in a dumpster behind the Frieze Building, and a suspect was discovered at a Citizen’s Bank branch trying to obtain cash on one of the credit cards. He was arrested and charged with possession of stolen credit cards. The case is pending in 15th District Court.
