Written by Bradley Bommarito
At around 10:27 p.m. on the cold winter night of January 21, RC Campus Safety received reports from students that a vehicle had become stuck near the scoreboard on a hill adjacent to the north side of the Maroon Athletic Quad (MAQ) after driving erratically off-road.
“I spotted this car driving along the walkway in front of CAR, but instead of going up the hill it turned toward the field. It got stuck between the fence and the scoreboard. I watched for a couple minutes- no matter how hard it tried to break free and keep going, the poor thing was just stuck there,” said freshman Senn Boswell.
Two Campus Safety officers responded within minutes of the reports. They approached the vehicle and spoke with the driver, who has no affiliation with RC. Tire tracks were visible in the nearby grass that showed the vehicle’s path up a hill and then the descent down the embankment that caused it to become lodged on the hill. No damage was reported.
“Officers arrived on the scene after a friend of mine promptly called Campus Safety. We weren’t sure what to think; was the person intoxicated, were they a student, were they hurt?” said freshman Max Kreutzner. “Few answers about the incident were provided by Campus Safety, and I continue to wonder the circumstances that led to such heinous driving on our campus so late at night.”
Shortly after the officers responded, the driver got back behind the wheel and managed to dislodge the vehicle. The driver promptly left the scene. No charges were filed at the time of the incident, but Salem PD later decided to charge the driver with several serious traffic violations. These violations have not yet been adjudicated. Alcohol consumption was a suspected cause of the incident.
“Campus Safety responded and the person left the scene shortly thereafter. Further investigation identified the suspect and this individual was issued numerous traffic charges,” said Chief Thomas Rambo of RC Campus Safety.
