University Park Blotter: April 3 – 9, 2019
Our weekly Crosstown University Park Blotter is a rundown of crimes in one neighborhood. University Park is unique in that there are two law enforcement agencies patrolling the area – the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and USC’s Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Here are the blotters from March 27 – April 2, 2019 and March 20 – March 26, 2019. In the style of newspaper police blotters, we choose a selection of incidents, some criminal and some not, reported to the LAPD and DPS.
April 3, 2019
From DPS:
Hate incident | Reported April 3, 2019, at 10:04 a.m. | Von Kleinsmid Center
A staff member reported that five days prior, someone wrote an offensive statement on a whiteboard that hangs on his office door.
Service | 4:14 p.m | Grace Ford Salvatori Hall
“A welfare check was conducted on a student who was reported to be behaving erratically at the location. The student was placed in contact with a counselor at the Student Counseling Center and he was subsequently cleared for release.”
April 4, 2019
From DPS:
Battery | 1:03 a.m. | 28th St. and Severance St.
“A suspect approached a non-USC female from behind and hugged her without her consent. The female was able to break free from the suspect and he did not pursue her as she fled on foot.”
Rape | 11:31 p.m. | Outside USC Area (location unknown)
“A female student reported she was sexually assaulted outside the USC area.”
From the LAPD:
Intimate partner assault | 9 p.m. | 2000 block of Oak St.
Suspect pushed victim while suspect was intoxicated. Suspect was or is victim’s spouse. Victim was a 47-year-old Hispanic male.
April 5, 2019
From the LAPD:
Grand theft | 3 p.m. | 2700 block of Severance St.
Suspect physically assaulted victim, who was disabled or unable to care for themselves. The suspect then proceeded to remove victim’s property. Victim was a 26-year-old black female.
April 6, 2019
From DPS:
Welfare check | 1:40 a.m. | Stardust Apartments (634 W. 27th St.)
“A welfare check was conducted on a student at the location after a friend reported receiving a disturbing phone call from her. The student was unharmed when contacted by officers and she was cleared for release after speaking with a counselor at the Student Counseling Center.”
From the LAPD:
Burglary from vehicle | 6:40 a.m. | 1100 block of W. 28th St.
Suspect, who was homeless or transient, used bodily force on victim and removed victim’s property from their vehicle. Victim was a 20-year-old Hispanic female.
Intimate partner assault | 11:30 a.m. | 900 block of W. 21st St.
Suspect threw a rock at victim, who was or is their former or current partner. Victim was a 45-year-old black female.
April 7, 2019
From DPS:
Vandalism | 11 a.m. | Galen Athletic Pavilion (3400 S. Figueroa St.)
“A suspect kicked a staff member’s vehicle several times while it was parked at the location, denting the passenger side doors.”
Suspicious circumstances | 3:30 p.m. | CVS Pharmacy (1919 S. Hoover St.)
“A student reported that a suspect in a vehicle pulled alongside him as he was walking near the location and demanded to know where he was from. The student and his companion walked into a nearby building to avoid a confrontation and the suspect subsequently drove away.”
From the LAPD:
Battery | 11:40 a.m. | Jefferson Blvd. and Figueroa St.
Suspect approached victim and demanded money before hitting them and removing their property. Victim was a 21-year-old male.
April 8, 2019
From DPS:
Battery with sexual contact | 4:55 a.m. | Jefferson Blvd. and Watt Way
“A suspect on a bicycle approached a non-USC female from behind and slapped her buttocks as she stood up from a bus stop bench. The suspect then rode away and disappeared from sight.”
Welfare check | 1:14 p.m. | The Kathleen L. McCarthy Honors House (3096 S. McClintock Ave.)
“A welfare check was conducted on a student at the location after her roommate reported hearing her scream in pain from inside a locked bedroom. The student was suffering from a possible anxiety attack when contacted by officers and she was subsequently transported to the Student Counseling Center to meet with a counselor.”
From the LAPD:
Battery with sexual contact | 4:37 a.m. | Jefferson Blvd. and Royal St.
Suspect grabbed and touched victim as they rode by on a bicycle. Victim was a 52-year-old Hispanic female.
April 9, 2019
From DPS:
Arson | 4 p.m. | George Finley Bovard Administration Building (3551 Trousdale Pkwy.)
“A suspect spread hand sanitizer on a counter inside a restroom at the location and set it on fire with a burning paper towel.”
From the LAPD:
Petty theft | 8:25 a.m. | 3000 block of Royal St.
Suspect stole victim’s mail from the mailbox at their residence.
How we did it: We looked at both publicly available LAPD data and the daily log DPS of reports of incidents and crimes in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. For neighborhood boundaries, we rely on the borders defined by the Los Angeles Times. Learn more about our data here.
LAPD data and DPS logs only reflect incidents that are reported to the department, not how many crimes actually occurred. In making our calculations, we rely on the data that the LAPD makes publicly available through the Open Data Portal and the logs DPS makes publicly available on its website. On occasion, LAPD or DPS may update past crime reports with new information, or recategorize past reports. Those revised reports do not always automatically become part of the public database.
Want to know how your neighborhood fares? Or simply just interested in our data? Email us at askus@xtown.la.
