A homeless woman was arrested in Kerckhoff Hall late Tuesday morning after employees in the building called university police to report that she was tampering with the plumbing.
UCPD officers arrested Jody Hart outside the women’s restroom on the first floor of Kerckhoff. Hart was charged with a misdemeanor warrant for resisting arrest, UCPD Lieutenant John Adams said.
Hart was cited and released the same day, Adams said.
Bridie Beeson, a fourth-year sociology student who witnessed the arrest, said Hart was repeatedly screaming, “You cannot arrest me! I’m getting a lawyer.”
Adams said Hart failed to comply with officers’ instructions and physically resisted their efforts to take her outside, so they deemed it necessary to arrest her.
Witnesses said police were called because Hart was repeatedly flushing all the toilets in the women’s restroom and tampering with the plumbing system.
Both witnesses and police said Hart frequents Kerckhoff and Ackerman Union and has been arrested on campus before.
Doris Najera, an administrative assistant at the Center for Student Programming, which is located in Kerckhoff, said she recognized Hart and has seen her damage university facilities in the past, including flushing objects down toilets and causing flooding.
“I don’t mind if (homeless people) come in and use the facilities, but I object to them abusing the facilities. It makes it hard for the rest of us,” Najera said.
Adams said Hart has a history of vandalism and was charged with petty theft in Ackerman on Sept. 27, 2006.
Adams said that when homeless people are arrested on campus, their cases are referred either to the district or city attorney, depending on the severity of the crime.
When they are arrested multiple times, Adams said judges will usually increase the bail amount.
Though UCLA is a public campus, Beeson said it is “unnerving and unsettling” when homeless people excessively use the UCLA campus facilities.