Students charged with cone burning
Published Dec. 5, 2006
Three students were arrested Monday on suspicion of burning a traffic cone and pieces of newspaper outside of Schurz Hall.
The students were each charged with felony knowingly burning, a liquor law violation, second-degree property damage and felony resisting arrest.
Police responded to a reported incident outside of Schurz Hall at 3:27 a.m. on Saturday. MU police arrested freshmen Kristi Hughes, Joseph Matschiner and Connor Walsh when they tried to run into Schurz Hall.
The students were taken to Boone County Jail and released the same day. Matschiner and Walsh were released around 10:40 a.m. and Hughes was released around noon. The students were each held on $9,800 bond.
Freshman Carolyn Trauner, a Schurz resident, said she saw the fire, but did not stay to see police arrive. She said the fire took place on the sidewalk about 20 feet from the front door.
Trauner said the students were burning paper when she left, but she did not witness the traffic cone being burned.
"I really felt that the punishment didn't fit the crime at all," Trauner said. "I thought it was really excessive."
Trauner said she knew the arrested students, who all live on her floor.
MU Police Capt. Brian Weimer said a Schurz resident saw the incident and called police.
Weimer said he did not know the owner of the damaged property, but that the students appeared to have been drinking at the time of their arrest.
Weimer said the suspects fled into the residence hall and were charged with resisting arrest. He said officers followed the subjects inside.
Mary Ellen Lea, operations manger for the Columbia Department of Public Works, said she did not know if the cone belonged to the city.
"We've been plowing snow since Thursday, so I have no idea where we would be using traffic cones," Lea said.
She said the department does not generally lose traffic barricade equipment to theft.
"When we're out on construction, we put up our cones and flags and whatever, and when we're done, we take them down," Lea said. "We don't really have a problem with them being stolen."
Campus Facilities spokesman Phil Shocklee was also unable to identify who owned the cone, but he said there were various places they could be found on campus.
"There's a renovation project for Hatch Hall east of Schurz," he said.
Hatch Hall is closed for a total interior renovation, Shocklee said. A wire fence encloses the area, but there was at least one construction barrel outside of the enclosure.
Freise Construction Co. has been contracted by MU to renovate the residence hall. Shocklee said if a traffic cone were taken from that site, it would most likely belong to the contractor.
Shocklee said the cost to replace the cone would be minimal, but declined to give an exact figure.
Freise Construction Co. could not be reached for comment.