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The Rice Thresher
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by OLIVIA ALLISON THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Houston Police Department officers arrested Wiess College sophomore David Escobar at Archi-Arts on Saturday night. He could receive a fine of up to $2,000 and/or 180 days in Harris County Jail if found guilty of the charge of possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor. Escobar has been charged with public intoxication, attempted bribery and possession of marijuana, according to HPD spokesman Robert Hurst. Two HPD officers arrested Escobar for public intoxication around 12:30 a.m. Sunday when he caused a disturbance at Archi-Arts, held at the Hangar, a converted warehouse downtown. The officers then searched Escobar and found him to be in possession of marijuana, Hurst said. "When they picked him up for public intoxication, they found 10.5 grams of marijuana on him. He was quite intoxicated, and he was unable to stand up - the officers had to hold him up," Hurst said. Escobar also attempted to bribe the transporting officer while inside the police car, according to the offense and court reports. Will Rice College juniors Fletcher Carron and Dan Street said Escobar was arrested after "trying to pick a fight" with them. "We were just standing there, and I was looking around and I noticed him staring at me. I made eye contact with him and I guess the eye contact was too long for him," Carron said. "I asked him his name. ... He ran at Dan, and Dan tossed him back. I think people restrained him, and HPD came over," he said. "When he was trying to get back at us, they just hauled him off, and that was the last we saw of him." Street said Escobar has acted in a similar manner before. "David Escobar has tried to pick fights with lots of people before," Street said. "He's been belligerent with me in the past, but not in a way that we even knew each other's names." At about 1 a.m., Escobar was taken to Harris County Jail where he spent the night. According to the court records, his bail was set at $500. Escobar's arraignment is today. Although Hurst said the district attorney's office accepted the bribery charges, Natalie Tise, Chief Prosecutor of Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 14, said she believed the bribery charge has been rejected. She declined further comment on details of the case. "Right now, we don't have a complete offense report, and since it is a pending case, I would be hesitant in talking about it," Tise said. Tise said the public intoxication charge would be prosecuted in a municipal court because it is a Class C misdemeanor. Escobar could not be reached for comment on the incident. Archi-Arts coordinator Heidi Werner said the event's organizers did not wish to comment on the incident. Campus Police Chief Bill Taylor said Rice police officers were not at Archi-Arts because it was not held on Rice property. "Our jurisdiction is specifically the Rice University campus and properties owned by Rice University," Taylor said. "Frankly, this was an event arranged by a department of the university, but not on the campus, and therefore there was no requirement for us to be involved." - back -
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