A man tried to attack a University Police Officer on Aug. 7 at the University Hospital where the man and his wife, who were both described by hospital workers as suicidal, were being treated.
The 59-year-old man had been fighting with hospital security guards because he wanted to leave the hospital, according to the report. The couple checked into the hospital voluntarily, but were kept there under a provision that allows staff to hold patients against their will for up to 72 hours to keep them from hurting themselves.
University Police Officer Timothy Bohn was at the hospital when the man charged police officer Octavio Reyes. He said the man believed that he did not need to remain in the hospital and that his wife was the one who needed treatment.
“The husband decided he didn’t want anything to do with it, and we were standing in his way, I guess,” Bohn said.
The man was eventually restrained and brought to the emergency room for treatment of minor injuries sustained in the struggle, according to the report.
Bohn did not know if the couple had actually attempted suicide, and hospital officials were unable to comment.
Police did not file any charges against the couple.
In other police news occurring between Aug. 6 and Aug. 13:
ù The Minneapolis Fire Department put out a flaming kiosk Aug. 10 on the corner of Pillsbury and Pleasant Avenues Southeast.
University Police Detective Larry Anderson said kiosk fires happen on campus as frequently as once a week. He said he thinks people just walk by with a lighter and set fire to one of the flyers posted on the square structures. Then the whole kiosk goes up in flames.
Police have no witnesses or suspects in the incident.
ù Two men received trespass warnings Monday in Willey Hall, according to a University Police report.
University Police officers observed the men acting suspiciously in a Willey Hall restroom, according to the report. Police then overheard one man asking the other for sexual favors.
Officers questioned the men and issued them trespass warnings, according to the report. The warnings prohibit them from entering University buildings for one year.
Neither of the men were University staff or students.
Police have handed out trespass warnings to deter men from using University restrooms for sex. University police have issued about two of these warnings a week this summer.