An alleged arsonist lit fire to trash cans in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library multiple times.
The arsonist lit fires at the MLK Library on two separate occasions.
The first incident occurred on March 31 at 5:18 p.m. and the second incident occurred on April 8th at 6:33 p.m, according to the San José State University Police 60 Day Crime Log.
An inspection on Thursday on the 8th floor restroom, where the incident allegedly occurred, revealed that there was still a smell of smoke in the air and vents carved into the ceiling.
"Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our campus community,” said Michelle Smith McDonald, a senior director for Media Relations at SJSU. “Our library is staffed daily with University Police officers. Yet this is another reminder of the importance of being aware of your surroundings and reporting any issues that are suspicious or concerning to campus police.”
There were 29 separate cases that occurred in the MLK library in the last 60 days, making up a little more than 17.2% of the cases that have occurred across all of SJSU in the past 60 days, according to the San José State University Police 60 Day Crime Log.
Of those 29 cases, several do not put anyone in physical harm such as use of offensive words, the possession of paraphernalia, lewd acts and petty theft, according to the same source.
Robert Cleveland III, business management senior, works in Student Computing Services in the library. Cleveland helps students access technology and supplies on the fourth floor.
Cleveland said the library did enough and he felt like the library dealt with the fires appropriately in a quick time frame.
He said that although he works there, he did not learn about the alleged arson until a co-worker of his sent him an email about it.
“It's a student-only floor, so I think there should be more (security), like more checking to see if you’re a student,” Cleveland said. “If it was a student, I don’t know what else they could do.”
There has been one other arson in the crime log. Campus Village B also experienced an arson March 20, according to the San Jose Staté University Police 60 Day Crime Log.
Meteorology sophomore Lucas Pollicino said he heard that before spring break someone came to the library to set some trash cans on fire, and that they burned the paint and floors.
“The other day on Tuesday night, I went there and apparently he walked out five minutes before I got there,” Pollicino said. “They just didn’t get him because he was wearing different clothes. Then they check the cameras and they're like, ‘Oh shoot, that's him.’ ”
Pollicino, who was interviewed prior to the perpetrators arrest, said he lives in Campus Village B where he said he saw posters in the downstairs lobby of the wanted poster.
He said these posters were reminiscent of a bounty, and across the bottom of the photos it said, ‘Wanted by UPD.’ ”
The alleged arsonist was arrested on April 10, according to the San Jose Staté University Police 60 Day Crime Log.
There have been two incidents involving a firearm on campus. One involving a suspect in Joe West Hall who was arrested on Thursday, and another involving the willful discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner at the Delta Upsilon Fraternity occurring on Feb. 20, according to the San Jose Staté University Police 60 Day Crime Log.
The closest California State University to SJSU in student population size is Sacramento State University with 30,193 students, compared to SJSU’s student population of 32,229 students, according to CSU enrollment numbers.
Sacramento State has faced 78 incidents compared to SJSU’s 168 incidents in the same time period, according to the Sacramento State Crime Log.
The University Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
