Last week on Thursday, February 8th, police vehicles were present in front of Mark’s Hall, otherwise known as the Welcome Center. This disrupted classes and confused students in the nearby buildings; Willcox Hall and Dyson Hall. It was later discovered that a stolen car had turned into Entrance One, which police followed. Around twelve cop cars, state troopers, and security swarmed around the Honda Accord, and apprehended the suspect.
Pace MCVA student Julian Clarke-Dixon was one of the students at the scene. He was in class at Willcox Hall at the start of the incident and shared what it was like in those first moments. “I was very shocked because I was in a class and then someone said, ‘There’s police outside’, and I’m thinking it’s gonna be one or two, when in fact it was twelve cop cars including state troopers, security, all those people were there.”
“It wasn’t until [I was] sitting outside for maybe five minutes, just seeing if I can find anything…A detective approached us, and she was just kinda like, ‘Hey guys I just wanna inform you there’s nothing bad or any chance, it was just something that was triggered off campus and then somehow got here.’”
The Pace Chronicle spoke with Vinnie Beatty, Executive Director of Safety and Security for the university, who gave us more on the situation. “The police got the hit on the license plate reader and they picked the individual out…they caught up to him on Bedford Road. And the individual made a turn onto Pace’s campus at Entrance One.”
While there was a guard present at the booth, the suspect was able to drive through Entrance One. Rye Brook police and state troopers pursued close behind. The suspect was arrested within ten to fifteen minutes and inside the hour the stolen car was towed, says Beatty.
The suspect is not Pace faculty or student, nor were they under any influence or with any accomplices. Pace security has yet to get back to The Pace Chronicle with Entrance One camera footage.
This situation calls attention to a security issue some students and parents have expressed concern for on this campus. Entrance One has no gate – and the booth itself has only been present since around the start of the pandemic. “We’re in the process of getting estimates for putting permanent gates up,” similar to Entrance Three, says Beatty. The date of construction has not been confirmed.