Saturday, Feb. 18

Shortly after 1 a.m., an officer surveying the grounds of the New Laboratory Science Building construction site witnessed six individuals crawling under a fence, each of whom proceeded into the incomplete building. The officer found the six men inside the facility, each of whom had disobeyed the “No Trespassing” signs and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. They were all issued summons to court.

According to University of Massachusetts Interim Chief of Police Patrick Archbald, there has been quite a bit of theft, vandalism and graffiti on the inside and outside of the building.

“The graffiti and theft are occurring at night, not during business hours, and it is pretty serious,” said Archbald.

After numerous reports, officers have finally been hired to be on site at disclosed times in an attempt to lessen illegal activity within the vicinity.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., Zachary K. Setters, 18, of Somerset, Mass., was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. Setters approached a parked, unoccupied police vehicle outside of Van Meter Hall, while an officer was tending to a medical call inside the building.

As another officer arrived on scene, he saw the suspect standing near the rear passenger side of the cruiser with a lit cigarette. Setters then used the cigarette to burn the paint on the vehicle, while, according to the officer, people inside Van Meter were chanting, “Do it, do it.”

Setters attempted to run away from the scene but was stopped and identified by the officer. He stated that he was not trying to damage the car, but nonetheless was placed under arrest.

Sunday Feb. 19

At about 2:45 a.m., Matthew P. Peterkin, 19, of Quincy, MA, was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. An officer observed Peterkin picking up and throwing traffic cones onto North Pleasant Street near the rotary.

The cones were blocking off a serious pedestrian accident which was under investigation. He then proceeded to place a cone on his head, and walked around with it while yelling. A friend then took the cone off of his head, but Peterkin repossessed it and threw it onto the road.

At this point, the officer approached and arrested the highly intoxicated man, who was also shirtless and bleeding from the elbow.

Tuesday Feb. 21

At approximately 10:59 a.m., a motor vehicle accident occurred on Governor’s Drive near Lot 31. Victoria Ivantchev of Greenfield, Mass. was stopped at a pedestrian crosswalk in the westbound lane when she was struck in the rear by a car driven by Taylor DiSantis of Peru, Mass.

The 2010 Ford Fusion driven by DiSantis sustained damage to the left side of its front bumper, as well as the hood, grill and windshield.

DiSantis struck the curb in an attempt to avoid the car in front of him, and as a result his car also received damage to the right front tire and wheel. His car was towed away, while Ivantchev’s car, a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta, only received minimal damage to the right side of its rear bumper.

Wednesday Feb. 22

At approximately 7:48 a.m., a maintainer at the Marks Meadow Elementary School called the UMPD and reported vandalism in one of the classrooms. There was gold glittery graffiti on a wall, which read “Smoke Weed” in large letters. He searched thoroughly throughout the interior of the building but found no other signs of vandalism.

However, the maintainer called back shortly after 1 p.m., reporting graffiti that he had found on an exterior wall of the building. In the same glittery paint, this message read, “[Expletive] the system.”

According to Archbald, there is no video surveillance system at the school, and therefore the only investigation that could be done was a search for broken and/or propped doors, items that may have been left behind and suspicious footprints.

“At this point,” said Archbald, “there is really not much further investigation that can be done on the case.”

Thursday Feb. 23

At approximately 12:58 p.m., an accident occurred in Lot 25 near the exit onto Commonwealth Avenue.

The operator of a 2003 Jeep Wrangler stated that she was traveling though the parking lot, and in an attempt to exit, she collided with another vehicle traveling south. The driver of the Jeep received a summons to court on possible charges of failure to use due care and failure to stop.

At approximately 9:51 p.m., a plainclothes officer in Lot 50 heard what he thought was a vehicle hitting something.

His attention was drawn to a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt, which had stopped suddenly after it appeared to have hit a 2001 Toyota Camry.

The officer approached the operator of the suspected vehicle, who claimed that she did not hit the other vehicle, despite physical evidence. The owner of the victimized vehicle was contacted, arrived on scene and stated that the damage to her vehicle was indeed new. The damage sustained was minimal and will be handled by the insurance companies of the two parties.

Taylor Snow can be reached at [email protected].