Student arrested in connection with suspicious package
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/20/2009
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Purdue Police arrested a Purdue student Thursday in connection with a suspicious package left in the University Visitor Information Center earlier that morning.
According to a press release, around 7:50 a.m. Thursday, three college-aged men left a suspicious box in a hallway at the center, located at 504 Northwestern Ave. Police evacuated the building and used a portable X-ray machine to examine the box’s contents. Inside of the box there was a wheel lock, a Purdue parking ticket and $20. Police re-opened the center at 9 a.m.
“Everything is fine,” said University spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg. “They evacuated the building, X-rayed the box and discovered that it had the wheel lock and a parking ticket and $20.”
Police arrested 21-year-old Roy C. Sun of Andover, Mass., on preliminary charges of Class C felony terroristic mischief and possession of stolen property, a Class C felony.
Norberg confirmed Sun is a senior in the College of Engineering.
According to the press release, Purdue Parking Services wrote the ticket and placed the wheel lock on Sun’s vehicle the previous day for allegedly displaying a parking permit that did not belong to him.
Terroristic mischief is when a person knowingly or intentionally places a device with the intent to cause a reasonable person to believe it is weapon of mass destruction, according to the press release.
Norberg said it is not a good use of police time when they have to respond to this kind of activity.
“It was a very serious matter to do something that mimics a terrorist activity – it uses numerous resources,” she said. “When they’re doing that they’re not out doing other things that might be needed.”
A Class C felony is punishable by a maximum of eight years in prison and a fine up to $10,000, and a Class D felony is punishable by a maximum of three years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.