UPD officer assaulted

Metropolitan Police arrested a male student after he assaulted a University Police officer in the Aston Saturday night.

At 1:30 a.m., UPD officers and EMeRG responded to a call that a male student was lying unconscious in a pool of vomit in a hallway, according to a UPD crime report.

While EMeRG attempted to evaluate the student, he gained consciousness and refused to cooperate.

The student rose from the floor and lunged at a UPD officer, but was quickly subdued by several other UPD officers.

The male student was transported to the hospital, where it was determined that he was severely intoxicated.

After being released from the hospital, the male student was brought to MPD’s second district station and charged with assaulting a police officer.

“Periodically, someone assaults an officer,” UPD Chief Dolores Stafford said. “But it’s not something that happens every day.”

Stafford said UPD officers are attacked six to eight times a year.

UPD officers get extensive training in defensive tactics, and are armed with nightsticks, pepper spray and handcuffs.

Purse snatchers nabbed in Marvin Center

Metropolitan Police arrested two people in the Marvin Center after a botched purse snatching Thursday night.

MPD arrested the assailants, both unaffiliated with GW, and charged them with robbery.

At 9:30 p.m., a female GW student in the Columbia Square area of the Marvin Center noticed that her purse was missing, according to a UPD crime report. She turned around and asked the person sitting behind her if he had seen her purse. The man indicated that he had seen someone walking out of the Marvin Center with the bag. During the conversation, the female student noticed that the man was hiding something under his jacket.

After some prodding, the man handed over her purse, and with a female accomplice, fled the Marvin Center. An off-duty UPD officer observed what had transpired and stopped the female suspect from leaving the building. The officer also put out a description of the male suspect, who was promptly captured outside the Marvin Center.

“It’s clearly an excellent response by UPD officers,” UPD Chief Dolores Stafford said. “They did an outstanding job.”

Stafford said theft has been an ongoing problem for the University and cautioned students against leaving valuables unattended.

“People that leave property unattended make easy targets for professional thieves,” Stafford said.