2 visitors to BYU raise red flags

PROVO — Sometimes it's easy to spot who doesn't exactly blend in on the campus of Brigham Young University.

It was long, scruffy hair and a full beard that prompted one early morning custodian to call police when she saw a man and his wife using a courtesy phone in the Richards Building at 5 a.m. last week.

The couple had been let in by a coach, although the building isn't technically open at that hour, said BYU Police Capt. Michael Harroun.

When a BYU police officer responded and began talking to the suspicious-looking couple, he learned the man, 27, and his 20-year-old wife had come in to arrange a ride.

"They didn't look like students ... (but) their story checked out, as far as using the phone and going to get a taxi ride to meet his parents at a local restaurant," Harroun said. "That was a legitimate story, and there was nothing criminal, other than they shouldn't have been allowed in the building. But in checking ID, (the officer) stumbled across their warrants."

The man had three warrants for his arrest out of California, Washington, Oregon and Illinois. His wife had a warrant out of Sandy for failure to appear.

Officials in Illinois agreed to take the man for prosecution on a warrant of failing to register as a sex offender, Harroun said.

The warrant also said the man could be armed and dangerous, and the officer found a 6-inch hunting knife in the man's backpack.

The man was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail without incident, and his wife was told to get her warrant taken care of, because Sandy officers didn't want to come get her.

Harroun said they get suspicious people on BYU campus probably a dozen times a year.

"BYU is kind of a gathering place, I suppose," Harroun said. "It's where it's at in Provo, with so much going on here. (People) come up that are transient, homeless, they'll go in and use the showers, panhandle — there's a variety of reasons they come."

Another man was arrested in early October after police got a call about a suspicious person from a resident at Wymount Terrace, a married-housing complex.

Police found 29-year-old Nathan Workman crouched down behind his truck, which was allegedly filled with other people's items, including numerous stolen ATM cards.

Workman has since been charged in 4th District Court with eight felonies and two misdemeanors and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday, according to court documents.

Harroun encourages all students to keep their eyes open and report anything suspicious.

"Often people will talk themselves out of reporting something suspicious," Harroun said. "(But) the first intuition you have is generally the right one."

When calling police, make sure to get a good description of the person, any distinguishing features, the car, a license plate, direction of travel — anything to help police. Even staying on the phone with dispatchers can help tremendously, Harroun said.

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