Spring Break
OPD arrest MU student for allegedly attempting to ignite apartment porch
Katie Wedell, Special Projects Editor
Issue date: 1/12/07 Section: Front Page
A Miami University student is facing multiple charges in Butler County Area I Court after he allegedly tried to set a porch full of students on fire early Sunday morning.
He was scheduled to appear in court Thursday and was granted a continuance until Jan. 18.
According to Oxford police and witness reports, Kevin Haskins, a first-year Miami student, allegedly attempted to ignite a bottle full of gasoline under the porch of apartment A at 14 S. Poplar St. around 3:45 a.m.
Matthew Wolpert, a Miami alumnus who was visiting a friend at the Poplar Street residence, said the incident started earlier in the night when Haskins and some friends walked by the porch where Wolpert and others were smoking. According to Wolpert, Haskins started a verbal confrontation with the people on the porch and had to be dragged away by his friends.
Before leaving, Haskins allegedly said that he would return with a gun and kill everybody there, according to Wolpert and police reports.
"It seemed like a drunken comment," Wolpert said about the threat. "I didn't think he would come back with a gun, let alone with a Molotov cocktail. I didn't think he was going to come back at all."
But about 20 minutes later, Haskins did return.
Wolpert said he saw Haskins approaching the building and then heard him walking around under the balcony. When Haskins came directly below Wolpert and another male they could see that he was trying to light a bottle with a cigarette lighter.
The males reported that they then threw beer on Haskins in an attempt to extinguish the lighter's flame. When they ran out the door to confront him he ran away, throwing the bottle in the parking lot where it shattered.
Wolpert said they then chased Haskins and eventually caught up with him at the corner of Church and Poplar streets where, after a struggle, they managed to detain him and call the police.
"We received a call about a disturbance at Church and Poplar where we found a group detaining a subject they said had tried to set off an incendiary device," said Oxford police Sgt. Jim Squance.
He was scheduled to appear in court Thursday and was granted a continuance until Jan. 18.
According to Oxford police and witness reports, Kevin Haskins, a first-year Miami student, allegedly attempted to ignite a bottle full of gasoline under the porch of apartment A at 14 S. Poplar St. around 3:45 a.m.
Matthew Wolpert, a Miami alumnus who was visiting a friend at the Poplar Street residence, said the incident started earlier in the night when Haskins and some friends walked by the porch where Wolpert and others were smoking. According to Wolpert, Haskins started a verbal confrontation with the people on the porch and had to be dragged away by his friends.
Before leaving, Haskins allegedly said that he would return with a gun and kill everybody there, according to Wolpert and police reports.
"It seemed like a drunken comment," Wolpert said about the threat. "I didn't think he would come back with a gun, let alone with a Molotov cocktail. I didn't think he was going to come back at all."
But about 20 minutes later, Haskins did return.
Wolpert said he saw Haskins approaching the building and then heard him walking around under the balcony. When Haskins came directly below Wolpert and another male they could see that he was trying to light a bottle with a cigarette lighter.
The males reported that they then threw beer on Haskins in an attempt to extinguish the lighter's flame. When they ran out the door to confront him he ran away, throwing the bottle in the parking lot where it shattered.
Wolpert said they then chased Haskins and eventually caught up with him at the corner of Church and Poplar streets where, after a struggle, they managed to detain him and call the police.
"We received a call about a disturbance at Church and Poplar where we found a group detaining a subject they said had tried to set off an incendiary device," said Oxford police Sgt. Jim Squance.
