Staffer’s quick thinking leads to arrest
by Sharron Walls
The system works, says Major Eugene J. Maxwell, assistant chief of police for operations in the MCG Public Safety Division.
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, an MCG staffer spotted someone she thought looked suspicious in a third-floor hallway of the Faculty Office Building on Harper Street, an area that usually has few outside visitors. Immediately, she called Public Safety and gave a description.
When officers arrived, the man was entering the Ambulatory Care Center. He was followed across the street into the Children’s Medical Center, then stopped in the hallway outside the resource library and asked to present MCG identification. He ran.
After a chase through the main CMC lobby, adjacent circle drive and parking deck, the intruder, carrying an XM satellite radio, was apprehended. A serial number check confirmed the radio belonged to an MCG plastic surgeon with an office on the fifth floor of the Faculty Office Building. Public Safety officers returned the radio before the physician knew it was missing.
The suspect was charged with obstruction of a law enforcement officer, theft by receiving stolen property and criminal trespass. He was booked into the Richmond County Jail.
An alert employee and quick response by Public Safety officers stopped this thief. “If someone looks like they don’t belong,” says Major Maxwell, “if they’re not wearing a badge, call us. We have procedures in place to keep the campus safe if everyone does their part.”