Some recent developments on those Oklahoma kids caught stealing vials of an unknown substance from a biological research lab:
Two men charged with burglary who tried to use a campus underground tunnel system face multiple charges that could lead to more than 17 years in jail, said Rick Sitzman, Cleveland County Assistant District Attorney.
Sitzman said the two men, identified as Christopher Thomas Boyce, 24, and James Kent Eldridge, 21, will each face two felony counts for conspiracy to commit burglary and second-degree burglary.
Eldridge was enrolled at OU this semester and Boyce had been previously enrolled but not this semester. Sitzman said conspiracy carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Second-degree burglary is punishable by two to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A witness called the OU Department of Public Safety at 2 a.m. Thursday and reported seeing two men exiting the insectary building near Richards Hall.
The insectary is a building used for storage, said OUDPS Sgt. Gary Robinson.
The two men were also observed entering a secured manhole cover leading into an underground tunnel system in the 1100 block of Asp Avenue, according to a court affadavit.
[…]When officers contacted the two suspects, they were walking south on Asp Avenue, Robinson said.
The two men forcibly entered the tunnel by cutting the locks with bolt cutters and opening a closed perimeter wooden door to Richards Hall, according to a court affadavit.
After questioning the suspects, one of the men admitted to cutting the padlock and entering a building on campus.
Before leaving the area, the officers patted the men down and discovered an empty glass vile with a stopper at the end, according the affadavit.
When asked by the officers why they broke into the building, the suspects said ?because they thought it was cool?, Robinson said.
[…]?I am suspecting they didn?t get too far in the tunnel because they came right back out after entering,? Robinson said.
Here are a few of the documents so far: (h/t On Politics And Other Random Thoughts)
Christopher Boyce Filing Page 1
Christopher Boyce Filing Page 2
Nothing earth shattering in these documents but a few people who knew Eldridge have posted on Free Republic:
Anyway, the reason I am on here is because I happen to know jim eldridge from when I went to school at OU in Spring ’04. I just wanted to give you guys a couple of things I happen to know about Jim and some of the things happening at OU.
1) Jim does have political views that many do not agree with
2) Jim has done several drugs in the past
3) Jim is formerly a vegan
I only posted the third bit because I was informed from a good friend of mine that works in Richards Hall that they had been warned to look out for animal rights groups activity a couple days before this happened. While Jim never said anything about being involved with PETA or the such, but coupled with my first statement, I can see him doing something like this.
Just some food for thought
Greg Heineken
And:
I’m the guy who Greg mentioned who works in that building.
I know a hell of a lot about Jim, anyone who reads his facebook profile would know some of this. He supports Earth First, he used to be a vegan, he’s radically left-wing, anti-war, anarchist, socialist/communist, the whole 9 yards. Animal rights activists would want to generally mess with Richards Hall, as it is the Zoology building and houses plenty of animal research.
It sure does appear that these two are prime PETA candidates, and they may have gone into the facility to create havoc. The fact that the vial was empty according to the article above is interesting. Why would someone take a empty vial? Or did they bring the empty vial in with them to fill it with something? Weird stuff all the way around.
UPDATE 11/13/05
New article detailing the kid’s lawyers calling the break-in a “stupid prank”
NORMAN – Two men charged in Cleveland County with breaking into a University of Oklahoma room marked “biohazard” were involved in a “stupid prank” and not something more sinister, an attorney for one of the men said.
Christopher Thomas Boyce, 24, of Norman and James Kent Eldridge, 21, are both charged with felony counts of second-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary. Eldridge is an OU junior from Oklahoma City studying in the College of Arts and Sciences, according to the OU Web site. Boyce was not listed as being enrolled at OU.
On Oct. 20, a woman told OU police she saw two men climb into an underground tunnel network about 2 a.m., Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall said this week.
While the woman was talking to an officer, two men appeared near Richards Hall, a zoology building, and were arrested after the woman identified them, Kuykendall said.
Bolt-cutters had been used to open a hatch to the tunnel network, Kuykendall said. The men were charged Oct. 20.
Court papers claim Boyce took an empty vial from the building next to the OU Botany Microbiology building on Asp Avenue west of Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
One of the men admitted they were interested in exploring the tunnels under the campus.
“We really can’t say that all they were doing was exploring the tunnels, but there is no evidence it was any kind of act of terrorism,” Kuykendall said. “You have to consider this due to the circumstances.”
Kuykendall said he has been told by OU officials there were no biohazardous materials stored in the room.
Fred Shaeffer, a Norman attorney representing Eldridge, said OU students have been breaking into the tunnels for years.
“He (Eldridge) is just like all the other students for the last 30 years who have gone into the tunnels to explore,” Shaeffer said. “He certainly is not a terrorist. It was a stupid student prank.”
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