Police Dispatch

Not Quite Criminally Creepy

UA Mall

April 11, 9:01 a.m.

A young Oklahoman on the road landed randomly in Tucson and found it much to his liking, having easily secured all his basic "needs," except a girlfriend, whom he decided to seek on the University of Arizona campus—a logical plan to him, but objectionable to others, according to a University of Arizona Police Department report.

An officer responded to the UA Mall after a caller reported a suspicious male there "asking about girls on campus." Finding someone of the correct description, he asked why he was on the Mall; the subject responded, "Well, I'm looking for a girlfriend, so I wanted to know where to find (the girls)."

The officer said most people would think it odd to go around asking strangers, "Where are the girls?"—but the subject disagreed.

He said his friend had driven him to Tucson from Oklahoma two weeks ago; now he was living at a shelter and "thought Tucson was the best town he'd ever seen and he was going to stay," adding that he played guitar and planned to start a rock band.

The officer at that time didn't have sufficient cause to detain him. So when the subject announced he was returning to his shelter, the officer let him go—but warned him that "asking people about girls is not a legitimate reason to be on campus," and if police found him there again under similar circumstances, he might face trespassing or loitering charges. The young man said he understood and left cheerfully, though still girlfriendless.