GC&SU student punished for setting off alarms

A Georgia College & State University student has been questioned and punished for setting off false fire alarms in Napier Hall, campus police said.

The first of two false fire alarms was activated shortly after 5 a.m. on Feb. 2 in the Napier residence hall complex.

GC&SU Public Safety Officer Donald Williams was dispatched to the scene, where it was determined that the fire alarm was set off by a fire extinguisher that was sprayed in the hallway and stairwell of Napier hall.

The Milledgeville Fire Department responded to the scene and used fans to help remove most of the powder released by the fire extinguisher.

The fire extinguisher used was found in the stairwell and taken in as evidence, but no witnesses came forward with information about the fire alarm initially, campus police said.

Public Safety Officer Hal Ennis was later dispatched to the second floor of Napier A at approximately 1:55 p.m. when several alarms were activated at once.

The Milledgeville Fire Department also responded to the second call, and it was again determined that the suspect had sprayed the fire extinguisher in the hall around rooms 212, 214 and 215.

The two cases were considered separate actions by different individuals.

Richard Goodson, deputy director of Public Safety, is pleased that the second case was solved so quickly.

“The investigation was completed by getting witness statements from people, who live on the hall and were around at the time of the incidents and then following up on the interviews,” said Goodson.

Officers questioned students who lived in the rooms on the hall where
the fire extinguisher was sprayed.

The students suspected one of their neighbors of setting off the fire alarms, but they did not see anyone do it, according to campus police.

When questioned the student denied being involved but later admitted that he suspected his roommate Joey Resado of being involved.

Officer Ennis received an anonymous letter on Feb. 3 from someone on the second floor of Napier A, identifying Resado as the person responsible for the fire alarms.

“The student had the choice of waiting for fingerprints to be taken and matched to those on the fire extinguisher or cooperating with us,” said Goodson. “He chose to cooperate and confessed to one of the incidents.”

On Feb. 4, Officer Ennis interviewed Resado, who confessed to spraying the fire extinguisher. Resado wrote his statement as a sign of cooperation, and avoided arrest and criminal charges by the University.

Paul Jahr, assistant vice president for Student Affairs, is disappointed in the students involved.

“The behavior is endangering other residents and that violates the housing agreement,” said Jahr. “The behavior is also a violation of the student code of conduct.”

The GC&SU Code of Conduct declares a violation to include “conduct that constitutes a danger to the personal safety of others.”

In addition, the GC&SU Honor Code defines vandalism as “intentional, malicious damage to university property or property belonging to others.”

These violations called for swift action on behalf of the university.

“The individual did lose his university housing privileges,” said Jahr. “That includes losing the year’s housing payment and housing deposit, restitution of damages and clean up fees.”

No students were injured from the exhaust spray of the fire extinguishers, but damage was caused to the residence hall. Repairs from the damage caused have been estimated at nearly $500, according to campus police.

“There was no serious damage caused, but there was the cost of cleanup and bringing in the custodial crew and also getting the new fire extinguishers charged up,” said Goodson.

Although the two incidents both occurred within a 24-hour period of time in the Napier residence hall complex, officers are not certain about the identity of the second offender.

The first case is still under investigation by GC&SU Public Safety.

“I don’t believe the same student was responsible for both incidents, but we don’t have any more leads at the moment,” said Goodson.

If you have any further information regarding this incident, contact
GC&SU Public Safety at 445-4400.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 21 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry