2014: The year in crime

2014 was a busy year for criminals and the Penn police officers that fight them. From the murder at Copabanana to a crime spree that ended in a student arrest on 14 counts of burglary, last year saw a number of high-profile incidents. Behind the scenes, policing technology and undercover work by plainclothes cops helped catch many perpetrators and prevent violence — including a potential homicide.

Murder at Copabanana

On Tuesday, April 15, 31-year-old Timothy Cary was shot and killed outside of Copabanana on 40th and Spruce streets. Penn Police responded to the scene, apprehending 26-year-old Corey Gaynor, who was later positively identified by several witnesses and subsequently charged with murder. Gaynor’s pre-trial conference will be held on Feb. 18.

Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush attributes Penn Police’s quick response time to vigilance by her officers. PennComm dispatchers operate PTZ cameras, which allow them to “pan, tilt and zoom” in an effort to identify suspicious behavior.

The dispatcher was “keeping a close eye,” Rush said. She “saw a guy running” and got a brief description, Rush said. This information was relayed to cops on the ground.

Rush says the Copabanana case was solved by a combination of human resources and technology working together.

The Crime that Wasn’t

In July 2014, plainclothes police officers Charles Ritterson and Steve Thammavong recognized Andre Taylor, an ex-convict who had previously been charged with robbery, engaging in suspicious behavior. The undercover officers followed him for five hours. Throughout the day he would follow closely behind women and then walk away. They believed he was waiting for the right opportunity to commit a sexual assault.

Rush, who herself was once an undercover officer for the Philadelphia Police Department, says that undercover cops cannot arrest a suspect for merely suspicious behavior — they must wait for the crime to occur. “You almost have to, even undercover, let it happen,” she said.

The next day, Ritterson and Thammavong teamed up with Philadelphia Police, and Taylor “started getting friskier.” Eventually, he cornered a woman near a garage at 4500 Larchwood Ave. and put a wire around her neck. The undercover officers immediately arrested him. The victim was seriously injured and rushed to the hospital.

Rush believes that without police intervention, the crime would “have been either a sexual assault or a homicide.”

Finals Week Assaults

During finals week this December, a woman was robbed after being hit over the head with a bike lock. That week, Penn Police, along with Philadelphia Police, had recognized a pattern of behavior from a suspect of similar description. The suspect had allegedly committed a series of sexual assaults, including two groping incidents on Drexel’s campus.

Rush said that video footage of the suspect helped unlock his method of operation. During his fifth and final assault, the suspect, identified as James Barrett, was arrested by two undercover Philadelphia Police officers. In the aftermath of the arrest, Penn detectives helped gather victims to positively identify Barrett, who is currently being prosecuted by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.

The Laptop Thief

In April of last year, Anthony Bagtas, a former College freshman and Penn basketball player was charged with 14 counts of burglary after a crime spree in which he allegedly stole unattended electronic devices from dorm rooms in the Quadrangle.

When the arrest first occurred, Penn Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Michael Morrin told The Daily Pennsylvanian that from the start it was “very possible” that the incidents were related because “they had the same manner, same method and happened in the same vicinity within the same specified time period.”

Rush said that her detectives were eventually able to catch Bagtas because “there was a good witness who was able to shed a whole lot of light.” Bagtas was not identified on camera in the act of theft because there are no cameras in the Quad. Bagtas’s trial readiness conference will be held in March.

BLCE Takes on Spring Fling

At Spring Fling, Penn students were confronted with increased enforcement of alcohol-related rules, threats of arrest from Penn Police and a warning that parties would be broken up by undercover officers from Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.

Rush said that the increased enforcement at Fling was caused by an order by the head of the state police force to increase emphasis on underage drinking at universities. “There was a concentration for them to start spending more time on college campuses,” Rush said.

Increased BLCE attention also came due to a request from the Division of Public Safety. Last spring, Sergeant Dan Steele told the DP, “Specifically for Spring Fling, our presence was requested [by DPS].”

The BLCE is “looking for behavior that really stands out,” Rush said. Violators are “going to be meeting a whole lot of new friends.”

When asked whether DPS will request BLCE presence in 2015, Rush said, “We want their help.” She added that year-round undercover officers from the BLCE attend parties at Penn and blend in with the crowd to catch illegal behavior.

Body Cameras are a No-Go

Protests in the aftermath of the jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown inspired the #BlackLivesMatter movement. President of the Penn Police Association Eric Rohrback wrote a letter to the DP criticizing President Amy Gutmann for her participation in a die-in. Rush responded with her own letter, which called Gutmann an ally of Penn Police.

With this attention, calls for body cameras on police have been renewed. Nonetheless, Rush said that DPS would not be moving forward with the initiative. “The body cameras for us are more about research at the moment,” Rush said.

Trends in 2014

Overall, crimes against persons were down in 2014, with 91 such crimes reported compared with 122 in 2013. Crimes against property were up, with 780 property crimes reported in 2014, compared with 728 the year before. Bike theft, theft from buildings, retail theft and burglary remain the biggest offenders.

Rush counts this as a success. “Your safety walking around, your safety in buildings, is our priority,” she said.

Newly available DPS crime statistics show an increase in sexual assaults in 2011-2013. The National Research Council reports that 80 percent of sexual assaults go unreported. In 2014, Penn hired new staff to address this issue. Jessica Mertz was appointed director of Student Sexual Violence Prevention and Education, and Christopher Mallios was named Sexual Violence Investigative Officer.

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