BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (IUSTV News) – The Indiana University Police Department arrested two men who were allegedly seen cutting bike locks near the Indiana Memorial Union over the weekend.
IU Police and Public Safety Public Information Officer Hannah Skibba said that dispatch received two separate calls early Oct. 21 reporting a bike theft in progress.
Skibba said officers quickly arrived in the area and located Joseph Akers and Nathan Blackburn, who matched the descriptions given by the callers. Both were not affiliated with the university and both had active trespass warnings for all IU properties.
Following an investigation, Skibba says Akers was jailed on charges of theft, a level six felony, criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
Blackburn was cited for criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor, and released from police custody. Both men were re-issued trespass warnings for all IU properties.
Online court records show that Akers, who is listed as unhoused, was already on probation after pleading guilty earlier this month to a separate misdemeanor theft charge. After his arrest on Oct. 21, his suspended sentence was revoked and he was held in the Monroe County Jail without bond.
Skibba credits active bystanders who called 911 to report this crime, and says that “See Something, Say Something” is a successful concept.
