Univ. Police report no gun pointed at student in alleged assault last week

After a student reported an alleged assault on Feb. 16 near Stadium Drive Garage, police determined that the assault never occurred.

A student reported that, while walking to his Ellicott Hall dorm, he passed an unknown silver vehicle parked outside of the garage with a male passenger inside the car pointing a gun at him, University Police spokesman Capt. Marc Limansky said. But after police identified the vehicle and interviewed its owner and the passenger, they determined there were never any firearms involved.

Police labeled the incident as unfounded, meaning an event did not happen the way it was originally reported, Limansky said.

Although Limansky said the victim agreed with the conclusion of the case, he added, "We have no reason to believe that the victim doesn't believe what he saw. He didn't make up a story and lie about it."

Police tracked down the owner of the vehicle using security camera footage, Limansky said. Investigators found license plate and tag information from footage of a silver car driving onto the campus at a time matching the student's report. Police then interviewed the female owner and the passenger of the car — the passenger was a university student — to determine the events of that night. The owner said she was parked outside of the garage because she and the passenger were trying to decide whether they should park there.

Police also photographed the car to show to the victim, who confirmed it was the same vehicle he saw last week.

The alleged incident was reported to police 19 hours after it happened, and Limansky said although police were able to solve this case, it is always better to report incidents sooner rather than later.

"It's just always more beneficial when people report things in a more timely manner," he said.

egan@umdbk.com