Over the past week in Lucille Clement Hall two incidents of arson and multiple reports of phone harassment have occurred, but the only known connection between the crimes is the location.
“In my personal opinion, I do not believe that the telephone harassments and arson incidents are connected,” said Lt. Mike Orr of the department of public safety.
On Monday, police officers responded to a fire alarm on the fourth floor of Lucille Clement Hall at 1:30 a.m. When officers arrived they found the hall filled with smoke.
In the kitchen thick smoke was pouring from the oven. After the fire was put out, a roll of toilet paper was discovered inside the oven, which had been turned on to the highest setting. According to police reports, the fire melted a knob on the stove and burned part of the rubber gasket around the oven. There was no other damage done to the floor.
On Tuesday residents of Lucille Clement were awakened again by fire alarms at 3:07 a.m. Upon arrival, police officers discovered heavy smoke in the first floor lobby. According to police reports, a phone book had been placed in an oven and the oven had been turned to high.
Ashley Johnson, a resident assistant in Lucille Clement Hall, gave a written statement saying that she had been awakened by the alarm.
She noticed the smoke coming from the kitchen across her room. Johnson noted that the setting on the oven was on high; she turned off the oven and left the room.
These two incidents of arson, which are under investigation, are believed to have been committed by the same person or group of people.
There were no injuries.
The reports of phone harassment are also believed to be connected to eachother.
One student has received five phone calls. The first phone call came at 9:20 a.m. on Oct. 24. A man, speaking in a “weird, creepy” voice, identified himself as Jack.
“He said to me, verbatim, ‘I’m looking for a girl with a beautiful belly and delicious feet. By the end of Halloween, you’ll be in my stomach. The chase is on.’ And then he hung up,” she said.
In subsequent phone calls, he revealed that he knew the color of her eyes, and also revealed that he knew she was going to get a new roommate. Yesterday morning her roommate received a phone call where “Jack” said, “Tonight’s the night, did you marinate your feet, something like that,” according to the student.
This student said that after the first few phone calls she went through a whirlwind of emotions – fear, anxiety, bitterness and anger.
“After the first phone call I was like, ha-ha, funny practical joke, I’ll let it slide. By the second phone call it wasn’t funny anymore,” she said.
At least two other women have received threatening messages from someone who is believed to be the same “Jack.” Their story is very similar.
Between the two, they have received four phone calls, and the man has threatened to cannibalize them in each instance.
According to police reports, on Oct. 25 the caller asked one of these students, “what she was doing next Wednesday night” and told her “that she could be his Halloween feast.” She then hung up.
“Initially, it was quite scary,” the student said. “He was definitely trying to scare us and it worked. After we thought about it and were a little removed from the situation, we found it to be a slightly ridiculous. If “eating us” was supposed to be a metaphor for raping us, it was a pretty crappy one.”
None of these young women have any idea who the caller might be. They said they did not recognize his voice, and could not think of anyone who would make the calls. The two sets of roommates do not know each other, although they live on the same floor in Lucille Clement Hall.
“My roommate and I batted around names of potential creeps for a while on the first night, but we couldn’t think of anyone we knew,” one of the students said.
Orr is certain the same person made these calls. These calls are currently under investigation. Officers are working with the local telephone service provider for the university to determine the origin of the calls.
Orr cautions students to use common sense with regard to safety on campus. Students can call on public safety’s escort services 24 hours a day.
“Use lighted pathways, use buddy systems, put our number on speed dial,” Orr said.
One of the students who received a harassing phone call said, “The only other thing that I would say is that if you get a phone call like this, report it.”
“No matter how lame he sounds, or how silly you feel, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

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