A female eating lunch in the staff lounge in Danner Hall was a victim of sexual battery on Sept. 14, according to Delta Police Sgt. Jim Bock.
While she was eating her lunch a male popped his head into the lounge and asked her if he could also eat lunch in there, according to Bock.
The victim then proceeded to explain that it was a staff only lounge, but the male entered anyways.
Shortly after explaining to the man that the lounge is for staff only he asked the female if she would read off his phone and when she looked at his phone screen she saw a crude message.
The female attempted to get up and leave the scene when he stepped in front of her and began to reach around her and grabbed her buttocks while grinding his pelvic region on her.
The female was able to get free and scream for help, which soon after campus police stepped in and was able to apprehend the suspect with the description the female gave.
A suspect, Salvador Martinez, 22, of French Camp, was arrested on suspicion of sexual battery the same day, according to a Delta Police TipSoft alert.
Bock explained that battery cases such as this one where women are grabbed from behind typically occur once or twice a year on Delta’s campus.
Campus police tends to immediately dispatch officers to the scenes once they are informed of any safety issues.
“If we get a good description we can get the person immediately and apprehend them,” said Bock.
With incidents such as these happening on campus, it leaves students and faculty concerned for their safety and questioning what to do if they have an emergency.
Campus police explained that there are 40 blue light phones on campus that can call directly to campus police if necessary.
However, the phones on campus are not up to date in comparison to other schools blue light phones, which leaves a worry about Delta.
Political science Professor Circian Villavicencio voiced his concerns on the blue light phones not being adequate.
“It’s a concern because if you don’t have phones up to date and working someone who needs it won’t be able to use it. Most people don’t even know how to use these phones since there has been no training,” said Villavicencio.
With questions surrounding whether or not the blue light phones are useful due to them not being up to date, campus police explained how they could help out drastically during a situation.
“Criminals are one of opportunities. They can easily knock your cell phones out of your hand. We as a police department believe there should be all means to ensure safety,” said Bock.
Campus police have met with major companies to upgrade the blue light phones located on campus.
“We want to get them in remote locations. The goal is to upgrade all the phones on campus,” said Bock.
With upgraded phones on campus, there is an incentive to add Reboost multi platform emergency notification systems on campus.
These safety machines will have screens displayed in different locations on campus.
If an emergency were to occur, the screens would display information.
