Arrest Follows Suspicious Activity on UHCL Campus
By Adolfo Gonzalez
On Wednesday, March 25, at 9:15 a.m., a University of Houston-Clear Lake police officer observed a white Ford panel van, license plate 04Z-VP6, roaming Lot G, Lot J and the University Forest Apartments.
When the officer stopped the van to investigate, the two occupants, driver 32-year-old David Cruz Espinoza, and passenger 53-year-old Cecil Lee Bobo, claimed they were posting flyers for a local restaurant. The officer determined the flyers were false because the restaurant did not exist.
Espinoza had no driver’s license or proof of insurance. Bobo was identified as a multi-time felon who had been released from prison March 23.
Espinoza was arrested for driving without a license, failure to provide proof of insurance, and being in the United States illegally. Bobo was escorted off the property and given a criminal trespass warning.
“The reason Bobo got a warning for criminal trespassing was because he entered the property through the gate,” said Paul Willingham, chief of police “unlike Jones [ Joseph Jones, who was arrested March 11] who had charges pressed against him for criminal trespassing because he jumped the fence onto the property.”
There is no solicitation on campus; therefore, any solicitation is a suspicious act. Since the van was not registered to either party it had to be towed.
The police department believes that the two individuals were casing the campus for opportunities to commit crimes.
“I’m glad they got caught,” said Yvette Aguirre-Pulido, currently working on her master’s degree in business, “Just because the police are keeping a closer eye out on things doesn’t mean I can let my guard down for any reason.”
The police encourage anyone who sees either of the individuals or similar suspicious activity on campus to contact the UHCL Police Department immediately at 281-283-2222.
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