Foundation awards money for help in identifying revelers

By Dave Stephens
Assistant Campus Editor

A total of $23,350 has been rewarded to people who provided information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the April 1 disturbance that followed the NCAA women's basketball championship game.

The reward money was issued for the conviction of eight individuals who participated in the disturbance that caused more than $75,000 worth of damage to the Purdue campus and the city of West Lafayette.

Twelve individuals have received checks from the Purdue Research Foundation — three for $5,000, one for $2,250, five for $1,000, two for $500 and one for $100.

Jeanne Norberg, director of the University News Service, said none of the reward money came from student fees or taxes, it was all provided from the research foundation.

Wayne Kjonaas, vice president of physical facilities, said this is the first time reward money has been issued by the University for something that has happened on the West Lafayette campus. Money has been rewarded in the past for information about bomb threats at a regional campus, he said.

The money was rewarded to people whose contributions led to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the April 1 melee, with contributions ranging from providing information to turning over extensive video footage to the police.

Kjonaas said the amount of money rewarded depended on how helpful the information was to the investigation.

"We looked at the type of information that was provided," said Kjonaas. "If we had two people who provided information about the same person, we split that between the two parties. If they provided information that we would not have received otherwise, then that could have been figured into the reward."

Purdue officials first offered the reward of up to $5,000 three days after the disturbance, and followed the announcement with postings of pictures and video images of individuals involved in the disturbance on the Purdue Police Web site.

"One of the rewards went to someone who identified someone on the Internet," said Kjonaas.

In all, 18 students were arrested during or after the April 1 disturbance. So far, 13 have plead guilty to charges ranging from criminal mischief to class D felony theft.

Kjonaas said he doesn't expect more reward money to be issued if those still awaiting trial are convicted.

"I think the University is demonstrating that they take these incidents seriously," said Kjonaas. "I certainly hope that this encourages students to think about their actions before they get involved in something like this."

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Campus editor: Laura Pelner

Assistant campus editors: Kurt Esposito, Dave Stephens

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