Accused student lowers bail, might face house arrest

Hai “Howie” Yu, a sophomore facing felony rape charges for a sexual assault that took place at Foster Magee residence hall, remains in the Monroe County Jail despite a bail reduction.

Yu faces two counts of rape, both class B felonies. Under Indiana law there are three subsections of rape. Yu is charged with two of these subsections. He also faces one count of criminal confinement, a class D felony.

Judge Kenneth Todd reduced Yu’s bond from $250,000 surety and $1,000 cash to $50,000 surety on the condition that, when released, Yu is placed on home detention with GPS monitoring.

Monroe County deputy prosecutor Rebecca Veidlinger said despite the decrease, Yu’s bond is still more than twice as high as the presumptive bond, a $20,000 surety and $500 cash, for a class B felony.

However, regardless of whether Yu can pay for the new surety, Veidlinger said he would have to meet the criteria for the home detention program with GPS monitoring. According to online descriptions of the program, these criteria include having “a residence and telephone service and equipment that is compatible with our electronic monitoring equipment.” Participants must also remain drug- and alcohol-free and take part in screenings during the program. It is not clear if Yu, who lives in Foster Quad, will meet these criteria.

Under the home detention program, an individual is confined with an ankle monitor and can only leave home for scheduled visits, such as work and school.

At a bail review hearing in the Justice Building on Monday, Yu’s attorney Joseph Lozano explained that Yu cooperated with police in the early stages of the investigation. Yu, who is from New York, was at the Indianapolis International Airport on March 12 when police called asking about his whereabouts. Lozano said Yu told police where he was and answered questions and missed his flight in the process. He was then detained by airport police and arrested by IU Police Department officers.

IUPD Lt. Craig Munroe verified that Yu answered his phone and gave investigators his location.

Veidlinger said the large bond was a result of concerns about the flight. The details of Yu’s trip to New York were originally unclear, and at one point, investigators thought the ticket was one-way. However, Lozano said Yu had booked a round-trip plane ticket a month in advance with the intention of returning to Bloomington on March 21.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for April 29.