Safety conversations persist months after residence hall arrest

Collage by Easton Clark, Photo Editor

In November, a 41-year-old man not affiliated with Chapman was arrested after entering the Glass Hall dormitories. Questions quickly circulated about who the individual was and how he gained access to the residence hall.

Three months later, little more information can be shared.

“I feel like a lot of things could have been addressed differently,” said freshman communication studies major and Glass Hall resident Lian Bega. “Still, I don’t know exactly what went down.”

“I tried to ask my RA about it,” Bega said. “And she had zero clue — no more than I did — then everyone just started creating rumors.”

That night, the individual was arrested for alleged lewd conduct — after allegedly agreeing to meet with someone posing as a minor — and was eventually released from custody, as no formal criminal charges have been filed. Whether to pursue charges or not is now up to the district attorney (DA).

Lieutenant Mike Monjaraz, OPD’s public information officer, said there are additional complexities in cases where an individual is baited into a location, as is alleged to have happened when an anonymous Instagram user set up an independent sting operation, claiming to be messaging the suspect as a 16-year-old.

“Our police officers may go out and say, ‘Hey, we believe we have enough probable cause to make an arrest,’” said Monjaraz. “The challenge is, the (DA’s) office is looking at things through a different lens.”

He said the DA’s office reviews information gathered from warrants and, in this case, a large amount of data from social media, before deciding whether to pursue criminal charges or not.

“Unfortunately, these cases are very, very difficult,” Monjaraz told The Panther. “Social media does provide a little bit of anonymity, and that is part of the challenge for us in law enforcement … A lot of different considerations go into whose account is this, how can we prove that this is the person that created this account?”

Bega said the lack of a formal conclusion has done little to ease her family’s worries.

“My mom was like, ‘This is insane, I can’t believe he had access to your dorm area,’” she said.

Bega added that she recently had friends who don’t attend Chapman visit her, and now their parents are apprehensive about letting them visit — especially overnight — for safety reasons.

Chapman’s director of strategic communications, Robert Hitchcock, said the university continues to prioritize student safety and well-being, and to do so, is clarifying Residence Life policies.

“We began a process of reviewing and benchmarking our guest policies, and that review is now complete,” said Hitchcock. “As a next step, we are drafting revised policy language and will publish and provide training on the updated policies when they are ready.”

Despite potential fears, however, the events of Nov. 18 have had little effect on Bega.

“I wasn’t as shocked to find out,” she said. “I was kind of like ‘that’s a bit crazy,’ but it wasn’t a big blow on me. Honestly, my (sense of safety) hasn’t really changed.”

It is currently unknown when the DA’s office will reach a decision on this case, but The Panther will continue to report any new findings.