Off-campus residents threaten student safety

In the past two years, off-campus housing facilities have been the crime scenes for burglaries, robberies, a drive-by shooting, alleged manslaughter and homicide.

The most recent bout of criminal activity occurred Nov. 29, when Tyler Police officials said Brandon Raynard Willis, 18, of Dallas, accidently shot and killed his roommate Daveon Johnson, 18, of Dallas, inside their Varsity Place Apartments unit.

WILLIS

Authorities found Johnson with a gunshot wound to the shoulder after they were called to Varsity Place for an aggravated assault at 7:22 p.m., Tyler Police Department Spokesman Don Martin said. Johnson was pronounced dead after being transported to East Texas Medical Center.

Martin said Willis told authorities he accidently shot his roommate while describing how he was shot in the past. He said Willis was unaware the .38 caliber pistol he aimed at Johnson was loaded, and that he pulled the trigger multiple times before it discharged.

The weapon was too old for the registered owner to be identified, but Martin said it was not stolen.

Willis, a Tyler Junior College student, was charged with manslaughter and booked in Smith County Jail with a $50,000 bond, according the jail records.

Varsity Place, located across from the University at 3400 Varsity Dr., is an off-campus housing facility with no direct ties to the University.

However, University Police Chief Mike Medders said criminal activity at nearby housing facilities sometimes leads to additional crimes involving University students.

“Right now, we seem to be getting a lot of spillover from Varsity Place,” Medders said. “Things that happen there definitely affect our campus.”

Two days after Johnson was killed, Beck Alleman, senior journalism major, said he was assaulted near the water fountain in front of the R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center.

Alleman was walking home from a party held in the University Center Ballroom at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 1 when three African-American males approached him, one of whom asked to borrow a cigarette, he said.

Alleman said he told them he didn’t smoke and continued walking, but the men followed and asked where he lived.

“At that point I noticed they were all beside me,” he said. “I made a break for it … (and) I wasn’t surprised at all when they started chasing me.”

Alleman said he ran toward the road, but the perpetrators caught up and knocked him to the ground.

The men began to hit him on the side of the head and reach for his pockets. However, Alleman said he was able to retain his wallet and keys because a blue stress relief ball he stashed in his pocket after leaving the party prevented the men from reaching the items.

Alleman said he continued to move toward the road and eventually evaded the perpetrators.

While no suspects have been identified, Medders said he believes the men were connected with the off-campus housing facilities.

“We still have no clue who those three guys were, but I have a problem believing that those were three UT Tyler students that were just walking through campus,” he said. “I think they walked over from Varsity Place or Cambridge (Apartments), or they have ties to somewhere in this immediate area.”

Kelly Chapman, regional manager for Varsity Place’s parent company, Peak Campus Companies, said most of the individuals involved with criminal activity who have been associated with Varsity Place are not residents.

“They’re illegal, they’re occupants that maybe one of the residents has brought in that we don’t know about,” she said. “We can’t be in every apartment all the time, but we certainly do our best to know what’s going on.”

Chapman said Varsity Place staff conducts quarterly inspections to ensure there are no unauthorized residents. They also have doubled the number of courtesy officers that patrol the premises from two to four officers, she said.

Medders said these officers are apartment residents that have received police training, but serve in an off-duty capacity.

However, some Varsity Place residents feel the complex’s security presence is inadequate and only enhanced during times when parents typically visit the campus.

Andrew Jennings, a Varsity Place resident of three years, said the security gates are always open.

“The only time I’ve ever seen security is during registration for spring and registration for fall,” he said. “So, when moms come to drop off their kids, there they are, standing at the gate.”

Jennings, a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, said he feels threatened every time he walks to his apartment.

“I’ve been mugged twice,” he said. “Now I carry (a) tire iron to and from my truck to my apartment every day and sleep with it in my bed.”

Rheuben Bundy, Varsity Place resident and graduate political science student, said he has heard of other residents seeking weapons.

“Six residents were all sitting around talking and, me being the exception, everyone else said they are going to get firearms for protection,” he said. “So, you have a situation where, due to the lack of security of its residence, the residents are starting to take it on themselves to protect their houses.”

Bundy said he chose Varsity Place because it seemed like affordable off-campus housing for University students. He said management uses the University’s reputation to attract students.

“That reflects poorly on (the University),” he said. “You can’t give student prices and have an open apartment complex, because it’s sending the wrong message.”

He said this poses a liability for the University, because the off-campus facilities are not as secure as official student housing at Ornelas Residence Hall, University Pines Apartments or Patriot Village Apartments.

The crimes reported over the past month are just the most recent episodes in what appears to be a recurring trend at off-campus housing complexes.

In 2009, Ricky R. Davis, 20, of Hallsville, was fatally shot in the Varsity Place parking lot.

Jeremy Jarrod Walker, a Tyler Junior College student at the time of the shooting, later was charged with murder and booked in Smith County Jail on a $750,000 bond.

At the time, witnesses told police there was an assault prior to the shooting, though it was not clear whether either the victim or Walker were involved.

Witnesses said Walker entered his apartment after the assault, where he obtained a handgun. Walker then reportedly fired multiple shots into a crowd of nine or 10 people gathered in the complex parking lot.

Davis died of a single gunshot wound to the head, though no others were injured, records show.

Last fall, off-campus housing communities also faced a string of robberies and burglaries over the Thanksgiving break.

Residents of Cambridge Apartments, located across from the University at 3088 Old Omen Rd., bore the brunt of damage, as 28 renters reported stolen items.

Thomas Tinsley said he was sleeping in his apartment when six men broke in, tied him up with an elastic band and stole thousands of dollars worth of electronics and cash.

Martin confirmed there were at least 10 break-ins at Cambridge over the break, but Tinsley was the only resident who was home at the time.

About six days later, three victims reported two African-American males robbed them at gunpoint at Varsity Place. Shortly after, another Varsity Place resident called police after two unidentified African-American males – one armed, one unarmed – knocked on his door.

In September, police again were called to Varsity Place after a reported drive-by shooting.

Responding officers found nine shell casings near the rear of the complex, but found no evidence of injury or property damage.

David Hill, director of residence life and judicial affairs, said crimes of this nature seem only to occur away from University-owned facilities.

While the University is not immune to foul conduct, he said constant patrols by campus police serve as an effective deterrent for most crime.

“People who live on campus, just knowing that it’s on campus, knowing that there are campus police that don’t have an entire city to worry about, that only have to worry about this campus … you see them more frequently than you probably do at an off-campus location,” he said.

Hill also said Patriot Village, Varsity Place and University Pines offer resident assistants who make regular contact with students, and that many areas of campus are monitored with surveillance cameras.

Medders said it is easier for campus police to serve on-campus housing facilities because residency is limited to University students.

At Varsity Place and Cambridge, “there’s no control over who lives there, or even at times, who visits there,” Medders said. “Mostly what we have in our housing are students that are here to learn.”

Aside from requiring residents to pay a deposit and conducting credit and background checks, Chapman said Varsity Place management have a more limited ability to regulate who can be denied residency.

“Honestly, without breaking any of our housing laws, we don’t have a solution,” she said. “If someone qualifies to live at our community, and we do have strict criteria, we can’t turn them away if we don’t think they’re going to work out because maybe they’re a student that goes to a college other than UT,” she said. “We haven’t honestly had any problems with any UT kids.”

Still, Chapman said her staff is doing everything possible to prevent future crimes.

Martin said Varsity Place management met Tyler Police Department community response officers Dec. 6 for a crime-watch meeting. Chapman said Peak Campus officials also have budgeted more funding for security personnel for the upcoming year.

Additionally, management from Varsity Place and Cambridge exchange a list of individuals who have criminally trespassed on their property each week, she said.

“We just continue to fight it,” Chapman said. “I wish I had the answers. If we had a magic solution, we would certainly implement it.”

Lea Rittenhouse contributed to this report.