Early Tuesday morning, Feb. 9, St. Paul Police were called to campus to respond to a trespassing situation. A former student had entered into Dupre Hall around 2:30 a.m., violating a no trespass order.

When contacted for a comment, Security Manager Steve Jorgenson made the following statement in an email: “There was no break in that occurred last night. A former Macalester student was arrested on campus last night for violating a no trespass order. The individual is now in Saint Paul Police custody. All questions should be referred to the Saint Paul Police Department.”

Ward Taketomo ’19, who was awake in a lounge studying for a test the following day, noticed the former student pacing the halls.

“I noticed that this guy, I didn’t really think anything of it, but this guy kept walking by and he came into the room,” Taketomo said. “He came into the room one or two times before, went into the kitchen, was looking around … Then he left then went back, he came back a third time and I didn’t think anything of it, until he like started asking me, talking to me, interacting with me. The way he was talking was extremely suspicious, it was like as though someone was deliberately trying to be suspicious.”

Taketomo said that the man asked him for help getting in the computer lab, even though he had shown Taketomo his Macalester ID which would have given him access. Taketomo was walking him to the lab when the Resident Assistant on call and two security officers intercepted them.

Taketomo said that they took the man downstairs to the Dupre lobby and that about 20 minutes later he heard sirens and saw several police cars pulling up to the building. He said that after the man was removed he was not contacted by security or the RA for information and many of his floormates were unaware that the incident had happened.

While Taketomo said he was a little shaken by the incident, he appreciated the quick response of the RA.

“I’m really I’m glad that it seems like they always are really on top of things when it comes to breaches in security,” Taketomo said. “In the position I was in I was like there’s no way an RA’s gonna come out of I don’t know where but like in perfect timing [the RA] popped up. So I think that’s pretty respectable.”