Freshman tosses pet guinea pig out window. Student gets into police squad car thinking he hailed a cab. Juveniles make fake 911 call to try and catch police eating doughnuts on the job. \nAll of the above are some of the offbeat "crimes" the IU Police Department has dealt with in past years. That's because unlike other police departments, the IUPD serves the same demographic every year: college students, usually between the ages of about 18 and 22. \nWith a mission of "protecting life and property," Capt. Jerry Minger said IUPD is always encountering unusual and bizarre crimes. \n"You kind of roll your eyes at it, but you see people doing stupid things all the time," he said. "We see a lot of things other police departments never see. (We) expect the unexpected." \nAnd IU's campus of more than 30,000 students has brought plenty of unexpected cases to IUPD. Unusual crimes might bring a laugh to the officers, but it's not always funny to the people who are involved, Minger said.
Miscellaneous crimes\nIUPD Lt. Tom Lee recounted an incident years ago where he responded to a 911 hang-up on the south side of the chemistry building. When he arrived, he found only a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts lying on the ground.\n"We thought it was kind of odd," Lee said. "I personally am not going to eat anything that I don't know where it came from." \nAfter looking around, officers discovered two juveniles hiding who attempted to run away. They confiscated a video camera from the individuals. The tape showed the two pranksters purposely calling 911 and saying "Quick! Hide! They'll be here in a minute!" Lee said. The two left the doughnuts in an attempt to catch the officer snacking when he arrived at the scene. \n"Pranksters pay because they do get caught," Sgt. Craig Munroe said. "I don't want anybody else trying that nonsense." \nMunroe recalled a December 2004 incident in which an IU student outfitted his pet guinea pig with a makeshift parachute and tossed it out of his Briscoe Quad dorm room window. When the animal became stuck in a tree, a resident assistant called the police, he said. The animal survived but the student faced animal cruelty charges, though the charges were later dropped. \n"The people at the animal shelter were irate," he said.
Alcohol-related crimes\nIUPD Detective Greg McClure said on several occasions, intoxicated students have stepped into police squad cars thinking they had called a cab.\n"We do give them a ride, but they don't end up at the destination they hoped for," Minger said. \nBecause of the turnover of new freshmen, the same things happen each year, he said. \n"It'll happen every year no matter how much you tell people, 'If you're gonna drink, stay in your room,'" Minger said. \nWhen students venture into public after drinking, many don't make it back home, he said. \n"Every weekend somebody will have been found passed out somewhere," Minger said. "A few weekends ago someone passed out in Kilroy's parking lot." \nMunroe agreed alcohol remains the main problem for IU students. Sometimes students are naive until they learn the consequences, he said. \n"For the most part, it's just the alcohol that really gets them in trouble," he said.
Indecent exposure\nMunroe remembered a case in 1993 where a man left money on dorm floors along with a note saying: "I need two or more females to watch me strip and pay me $50." \nAfter telling the women to park outside his house he would then strip with the windows open and the lights on. "He just liked to be nude in front of women," Munroe said. "We would find him naked on campus." \nMcClure also warned of scams targeting students. \nIn another case, a man claiming to be from a modeling agency placed advertisements seeking student models, McClure said. The man told the students who responded to meet him in a campus classroom where he took pictures of them, McClure said. Then the man secretly videotaped the women changing into their swimsuits, McClure said. He pretended to turn off the camera when he left the room but really just unplugged it and turned on the battery, he said. \nHe also secretly placed another camera in the room to record the women no matter where they were changing in the room. \nAfter a couple of complaints, IUPD investigated and caught the man, confiscating the tapes and records, McClure said. He scammed hundreds of women and ended up losing his job and wife over the situation, he said. \nMcClure, who worked for 22 years in what he considers one of the worst parts of Washington, D.C., said working for IUPD is still challenging because students do not think there are consequences to their actions. \n"In a lot of ways it's more aggravating (dealing) with young people who have no life skills," he said. "And they are shocked when something happens to them"
