By Ashley Coker and Mallory Morrison
Staff Writers
Residence Life staff members searched all on-campus housing on Wednesday, April 23, after an employee of the college reported his pistol stolen from a vehicle parked on campus two days prior.
Dayton Police Sgt. J.C. Byrd reported that the stolen semi-automatic pistol was a black Glock 32 in .357 Sig caliber with night sights that belonged to JV baseball Assistant Coach Zach Vick.
On April 21, Vick reported to police that his pistol had been stolen out of his Ford pickup while it was parked on campus the previous Thursday, April 18.
The police report states that Vick’s passenger side door was unlocked. On Friday, April 19, Vick noticed the pistol was gone. He initially thought he had removed it from the vehicle himself. The next day he realized the pistol had been stolen after noticing change missing from a coffee mug in his truck.
Due to the potentially dangerous nature of the stolen item, Dean of Community Life Bruce Morgan said he told the Residence Life staff to initiate a thorough search of all dorm rooms and townhouses when they became aware of the theft, two days after the police report was filed.
“At the time of the search, we were unaware of the police report. Based on the information provided, a campus search was the best course of action for our students,” said Assistant Dean of Community Life Tim Shetter.
Neither Morgan nor Shetter said how they were informed of the missing pistol.
Resident Director Matt Williams was in charge of the search, since both Morgan and Shetter were out of town for separate engagements. Morgan and Shetter communicated with Williams via phone throughout the incident.
Williams, who is completing his eighth year as a resident director, said that, to his knowledge, there has never been such an intensive campus-wide search before.
While Campus Officer Josh Jordan called in a few other officers from the Dayton Police Department and acted as backup for the Residence Life staff, it was not a law enforcement search.
The missing pistol was not found during the search.
Vick declined to comment on the case and the subsequent search.
Shetter said that since the campus is open to the public, there is no way to know whether the firearm was taken by someone on campus or an off-campus visitor.
Nonetheless, he said he believes that the search made the campus a safer place.
No further action is being taken by the college, but the case remains “active” for the Dayton Police Department.
Students were told that their rooms were being searched due to an incident of theft on campus but were never told what the missing item was.
Shetter said this is because the Residence Life staff did not want to cause widespread panic amongst students.
Williams said RAs performed the search in pairs to insure that everything was handled appropriately and in a manner that was “above reproach.”
Students had mixed reactions to the search.
Senior Anna Beaty said, “It really didn’t bother me. I didn’t have anything to hide. They didn’t mess anything up, and I was in the room. They were just doing their job.”
Sophomore Kat Frazier was napping when her room was searched.
“I have this rule that if you wake me up when I am taking a nap it best be an emergency,” she said.
“I was a little caught off guard with the email I received,” said sophomore Bryan Alderman. ” There was not much of a follow-up. I don’t know how the handbook handles the privacy of a student’s dorm room. Something there struck a wrong chord with me. I do not have anything to hide, but at the same time it feels very uncomfortable that they have the authority to barge into my room whenever they want and look at stuff.”
The 2013-14 Student Handbook states, “The college reserves the right to search students, their rooms, furnishings, personal property, and/or motor vehicles for forbidden items such as stolen property, illegal drugs, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, firearms, fireworks, pornographic material, etc. The college reserves the right to confiscate any forbidden or misused items.”
Shetter confirmed that while the firearm was not located during the search, various items violating the student handbook were.
These items ranged from airsoft guns to beer.
Morgan said that members of the Residence Life staff were handling these handbook violations as they see fit, and that while some of these cases may eventually come to him for disciplinary action, none have yet.
