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The on-campus beating of a University of New Mexico faculty member could have been prevented had police responded sooner, according to a student who witnessed the attack.
Trish Steinbrecher, an assistant professor, said she did not want to comment on the assault, which took place on Feb. 18. But the student who was with Steinbrecher and witnessed the incident provided details of what took place that Monday.
Graduate student Jessica Kehler said she and Steinbrecher came across an inebriated man, later identified as Jory Boone, 21, on the floor near a building they were leaving.
Steinbrecher called UNM police, and Kehler said she also walked to police headquarters to ask for help. The response, she said, was “extremely delayed.”
BOONE: Allegedly found inebriated on floor of UNM building before assault began
After police told Kehler that they’d already dispatched an officer, she walked back to the scene. Steinbrecher was then attacked.
Someone else called campus police after the assault began, and Lt. Trace Peck said officers responded quickly to that call.
“Upon arrival I observed (Boone) on top of Mrs. Steinbrecher punching her multiple times on the face and head with a closed fist,” the police report states.
UNM police say their response was as fast it could have been and deny they could have prevented the situation.
Kehler disagreed.
“I actually went down (to the police station) and requested them to come (with me) and they didn’t come,” she said. “In my mind it’s completely preventable, and there was no need for it to have happened.”
Kehler said it began as she and Steinbrecher, who teaches special education, were leaving the Technology and Education Center near the northeast end of the main campus after an afternoon class. The women came across Boone, who was lying on the floor and yelling incoherently. They approached him to assist.
Once they figured he was inebriated, Kehler said Steinbrecher called UNM police asking for assistance. Kehler said that call went through just a couple of minutes after 7 p.m. Police, however, are not sure what time the call came in, according to Peck.
Several minutes passed, and Steinbrecher asked her student to walk over to Hokona Hall, where police are stationed, and ask somebody for help.
Kehler said she walked in and asked an employee at the front for help. He told her they had already received the dispatch call and were sending someone, Kehler said.
The situation escalated after Kehler got back to Steinbrecher. Boone, who has been charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery, eventually got up and charged at Steinbrecher, according to both a police report and Kehler.
Kehler said her professor had a black eye and other face injuries at their next class the following week. She said what bothers her most is that she asked for help at the department in person before the attack and was rebuffed.
“This shouldn’t have happened. They should staff (the police department) in a way that this kind of thing doesn’t happen. I mean, I don’t feel safe on campus,” Kehler said.
Peck said he wasn’t sure what time Steinbrecher’s call reporting Boone — what police refer to as a “down and out” call — came in. He said police responded to a different call, one reporting the physical assault on Steinbrecher, rather quickly.
“It didn’t take that long for us to get there because we caught (Boone) in the act. For them to say it took 12 minutes to get there, we thought it was pretty far-fetched,” Peck said.
Peck said the department always has at least three officers patrolling the UNM campus, including Lobo Village and the south campus along with the Health Sciences Center, which is north of Lomas. There are 26 UNM police officers.
Boone has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was first arrested by university police in Oct. 2010 on charges of possession/delivery of drug paraphernalia. Boone was found guilty later that year.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
Reprint story -- Email the reporter at agalvan@abqjournal.com. Call the reporter at 505-823-3843
