Hillsdale City Police are continuing to investigate reports of an altercation near College Street last weekend.
On Jan. 16, between 10 and 11 p.m., Hillsdale College Campus Security received a call about suspicious activity in the parking lot between the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house and the Howard Music Building.
A student resident of Niedfeldt Residence reported witnessing a strange altercation between people in two cars, according to Hillsdale Police Chief Scott Hephner.
According to Hephner, the student gave Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers, “the student was outside of Niedfeldt residence when he saw a red SUV and a white pick-up truck have some sort of engagement on College Street, across from Whitley and Niedfelt.”
The student reported that women in the red SUV appeared to be having a disagreement with the person in the white pick-up truck, Hephner said.
The women appeared to be trying to dissuade the driver in the white truck from continuing to follow them, Hephner said.
“There is not much information beyond the details reported by the student,” Whorley said. “Only these two cars were reported as the two involved in the incident.”
Rogers and Hephner said the student who reported the incident to campus security had also seen someone get out of the white truck with a metal object. The student reported that the unidentified individual stepped up to the red car, brandishing the mental object. In response, according to the account of the student, the red SUV then drove away.
The investigation is ongoing, and Hephner encourages anyone involved to contact the police department.
“We do not have the license numbers of the cars involved right and none of the girls that were potentially involved have spoken about being involved,” Hephner said. “I hope that people will come forward and talk about it if they were involved, so we can get more details.”
Rogers reiterated that Hillsdale College is following the investigation, but in regards to students speculating on the incident, he encouraged caution.
“I encourage people to be cautious before spreading details, because there has been a lot of speculation going on, even while the details of the case are still being identified,” Rogers said. “People should be mindful of the power of gossip and its potential to create false narratives.”
