The Shocking Arrest of a long time City College Employee

Coming back from a winter break and finding out that four of the cameras used by students in the Radio TV Film Department were stolen, was beyond disappointing. But finding out who allegedly stole from the very students he served was beyond anything students could imagine. We were there to witness the suspect being hauled into jail. We immediately began digging for information and we discovered could be compared to Watergate.  We followed a paper trail of money which led to more and more stolen merchandise uncovered.

62 year old Larry Quick, has pleaded non-guilty as of this writing. The former district employee has resigned from his position as Chief Broadcast Engineer at San Diego City College where he earned an estimated 96 thousand dollars a year.

This is a series of reports which we covered this semester.

Sexual Assault and Theft in City College

Sexual assault should not be part of the college experience, or experience at all.

Every nine seconds a woman is assaulted in the U.S., according to statistics provided by the Visionary Feminists Club. One in four women are subjected to abuse and the ages range from 18 to 34. One in five women are assaulted while attending college.

Even though City college counts with one sergeant, one to three officers, and two college service officers from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., and one sergeant, four officers, and two college service officers from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m, According to Lt. Louis Zizzo, Southern Command of the San Diego Community College District Police Department. It seems not enough coverage to stop crimes on campus.

These dates are some cases registered on sexual assaults and theft in San Diego City College. Something interesting is that most of the crimes happened during February, March, September, and October, from 2010 to 2016.

• February 9, 2016 – Sexual Assault
• February 10, 2016 -Theft
• March 24, 2016 – Theft
• April 14, 2016 – Sexual Assault
• April 24, 2016 – Theft
• March 4, 2015- Sexual battery
• March 18, 2015 – Sexual Assault
• May 12, 2015 – 3 incidents of Theft
• September 12, 2015 – Theft
• October 15,2015 – Theft
• October 9,2014 – Sexual Assault
• September 18,2013 – Sexual Assuault and Robbery
• September 14,2013 – 3 incidents of theft
• October 10,2013 – Theft
• February 7, 2012 – Robbery
• May 4, 2012 – Kidnap
• February 9, 2010 – Theft
• February 25,2010 – Theft
• March 12, 2010 – Theft
• April 20, 2010 – Drug dealers
• May 4, 2010 – Vandalism
• October 12,2010 – Diana Gonzalez murder case
• October 18,2010 – Possession of weapon
• April 7, 2008 – Shooting threat
• May 8, 2007 – TheftThe majority of the thefts registered on City college took place in The Radio, Television, and Film Department.

• Theft reports from RTVF Department according to City Times

1. January 2016 – $16,000, C Building, 4 Canon C100 video cameras
2. January 2016 – $1,400, Saville Theatre, two Electrovoice RE-20 microphones
3. March 2016 – $2,800, A MacBook Air, custom briefcase, iPad, and LG tablet
4. 2015 – $2,900 in cash, stolen from safe housed inside of the L building
5. 2014 $2,205, C Building, 3 DSLR cameras stolen (Canon Rebel 3Ti)
6. 2014 – $10,000, C Building equipment
7. March 2011 – $900, C Building, Manifrotto tripod stolen from student
8. Summer 2010 – $6,298, C Building break-in, 2 DV camera tape decks
9. Fall 2007 – $2,296, L Building, Lumen projector and monitor stolen
10. Spring 2007 – $1,500, C Buidling, 3M video projector
11. Losses total $43,499
    

Even though most of the accidents happened during light time, being a night time student increases the chances of being assaulted because of the lack of students and security.

Make sure you are always aware of your surrenders and people around you, have your cellphone on hand and for extra security get a pepper spray.

Chief of Police Ray Aguirre, encourage you to arrange a safety escort call College Police at 619-388-6405, or report suspicions activities to the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000, or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS.

Safety escort services are available 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Emergency Call-Boxes are located in most classrooms, elevators and parking lots which provide a direct link to the San Diego Community College District Police Department.

Heder Casas

City Cruising

By: Vince Fanghella

The beginning of the Spring 2016 semester at San Diego City College was a special one for me and my fellow students.  Mainly, it was the first time the Radio, Television and Film (RTVF) Department had been back  home at the “C” building in about two years.  Previously the department was located in the antiquated “T” building and other spots around campus while the entire C building was renovated with tax payer funding from Propositions S and N.

     While many aspects of this renovation are still being completed, it was an exciting time for us.  There were all new facilities including edit bays, equipment check out, a newsroom with plasma screens, a brand new state of the art television studio and a set of sparkling clean renovated bathrooms.

    Very quickly, the shine started to fade and the world came and crashed in on us.  RTVF students are protective of this facility but we couldn’t seem to stop the tens of thousand of dollars in theft and what was beginning to be a real vandalism and drinking problem.  How does a building have a drinking problem you ask?  Well, one by one, people were finding empty beers and empty bottles of hard liquor scattered around the stalls of the bathrooms.  We’d find these bottles and cans and talk amongst ourselves and wonder, “who wants to party in a public bathroom?”  

   The chatter grew until some people who had been at City for a while mentioned that the old C building bathroom used to be on Craigslist as a “party” place and that people had gotten arrested some years back for having sex in the bathrooms.  I wanted to see if that digital footprint was still around from all those years back, but I came to find the footprints are still fresh and are being made daily.

Linked below is a news package I did on this that was part of  City College Newscene, a weekly, live, half hour TV news show.

 

I would also like to add this link (below) to a current (May 2016) story from the City Times about this bathroom issue at City.  It was written by Collette Carroll, a very talented investigator and reporter, who I have had the pleasure of working with this semester.  The article is excellent and goes into much more depth than I ever could in a TV news package.  Also, an interesting look into the difference in the mediums of television and print news and how they both can work together.  A great read and reporter.

Websites promote City College restrooms for sexual encounters

 

Mary Lou Olson by Giovanni Fiol

On January 3rd, 1960 Mary Lou Olson, 10,  went missing from her National City neighborhood.   The little girl got permission from her father to go to the South Bay Mall.  She disappeared shortly after 2 p.m.  prompting a house to house search.   Meanwhile a dragnet was conducted by air, sea and ground.  The search included sailors from the Naval Training Center, sailors and marines from the Naval Station, in addition to the National City Police Department, the National City Reserves and the police volunteers from Coronado, Imperial Beach, sheriffs deputies, a Coast Guard helicopter and Civil Air Patrol planes.

Nine days later, her body was discovered 14 miles south of Tijuana in a gully, one mile east of Rosarito Beach, B.C., Mexico.  Her body was found in the Arroyo Seco Wash by two brothers, Lucio and Rumoaldo Iniguez.   A daylight search of the area led to the finding of her red pedal pushers and her under clothes, worn on the day of her disappearance.

It soon became an international investigation.  Authorities questioned up to 12 people of interest.  Then the case went cold.  No arrests were ever made.

In March of 2016,  we set out on an on our own investigative journey to see what we could find out about this case.   This is what we found.

 

Investigative Reporting RTVF 143

This blog is created by students in the RTVF 143 Investigative Reporting Class at San Diego City College.  We will be posting our web stories as the semester unfolds.   We are learning how to dig for information when all the doors seem to be closing.  We are learning how to cultivate sources.   We are inspired by the Oscar winning film,  Spotlight.