Officials suspended two Dixie State College students after they were arrested Jan. 14 for burglarizing a college building.
The two students, Michael Davis Legg, a sophomore business administration major from Washington, and Jarrod Ward Bradbury, a freshman general education major from St. George, were caught in the act by campus police officer Trevor Larson and backup officers from St. George Police Department at the Russell Taylor Health Science Center around 2 a.m.
Since then, they have both been arraigned on four charges: burglary, theft, trespassing and criminal mischief. Don Reid, director of campus security, said they will both face at least two charges of each crime. Still, he said the charges may be increased or decreased, depending on the decisions of the county attorney.
As a result, the two were suspended indefinitely, which Dean of Students Del Beatty said means they still have the option of coming back to DSC eventually by following a process that includes an appeal.
Beatty said administrators work with and help anyone who gets in trouble on campus before suspending or dismissing that person, but in this case, the crimes posed too much of a threat to campus.
"There's a number of different reasons people can be suspended, but this one, because they had multiple felony charges brought against them and because they are a potential harm to our students, to our facilities, ... it was pretty much a no-brainer," he said. "If we start feeling like they are a harm to themselves or to others, we take action."
Legg and Bradbury are up against felony charges because of their previous arrests, including burglary and theft, and because of the location of their crimes, Reid said.
"Because they both have a past criminal history and because this is a safe zone-a school-those are going to be felony charges," Reid said.
Reid said when the two men were apprehended, they were carrying medical supplies they had stolen from the building. He said the dollar amount of those stolen items most likely reaches into the hundreds. The damages to the building, which are mainly where the two men forced entry with a crow bar, are currently up to $1,900, Reid said.
The two said they wanted the medical supplies, including syringes, IV kits, sodium chloride injection kits and solutions, so they could practice for the intermediate EMT course they were both taking. However, officials aren't buying that explanation.
"These guys were told in class that they couldn't have the equipment," Reid said.
The nature of the stolen items brings the suspicion that the two were planning to use the equipment for illegal endeavors.
"Not knowing the details of the case, that seems a little weird to me," Beatty said. "You would think that a lot of those things would be used for illegal drug use."
The two men's attempt to steal supplies from the building was not their first. Reid said the janitor for the Taylor building had noticed evidence of a break-in attempt on Dec. 21, which is when he notified campus police. Reid said security was then tightened on the building, and his officers began doubling back after their initial check each night. That was most likely the reason Larson was able to catch the two when they were still on the premises.
"I believe they both admitted to having done the other burglaries, those attempts to try to get in," Reid said. "We've charged them with those, as well."
This type of incident is fairly rare on campus. Even when there are thefts or break-ins on campus, Reid said they are most often solved.
Reid said, "It's been interesting for me to watch over the years that even when there's a rash of burglaries that take place in the community around us, they may hit several neighborhoods on our perimeter, but they don't actually hit us."
That relative safety may be the result of campus police officers' unpredictable patterns.
"I believe it is because our guys spend a lot of time at night on foot, and it's difficult to know where we're at and where we're there," Reid said. "Most people realize every campus nowadays has a campus police force, but they don't really know who they are, where they're at or what they do. I think that's helpful."
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