Drunken Dobson intruder charged

A Baring, Mo., man is in jail on a $75,000 cash-only bond after passing a night monitor and entering two females' room in Dobson Hall early the morning of Jan. 20.

Andrew Couch, 21, has been charged with Class B felony burglary and Class D felony attempted deviate sexual assault in connection with the incident. His preliminary hearing was set Wednesday morning for Jan. 30.

Dobson Hall Director Stephanie Chrissotimos said the night monitor on duty followed security procedures.

"About four o'clock in the morning on Sunday, a male entered the building through the night monitor area," Chrissotimos said. "The night monitor did ask to see an ID. The man said he didn't have an ID because he wasn't a Truman student."

After the night monitor refused him entry, Couch told the night monitor he was going to meet a friend. The night monitor again denied entry to Couch, who then passed the desk and turned the corner to the stairs anyway, Chrissotimos said.

"The night monitors, we don't require them to chase after anybody or put themselves in physical harm," Chrissotimos said. "But what we do require of them [is] to contact [the police] immediately. As soon as Couch passed the night monitor, the night monitor did call 911."

She said the night monitor provided central dispatch with a detailed description of Couch at 4:02 a.m. When DPS officers Tami O'Haver and Dexter Brookhart arrived at the scene, they began searching for Couch around the perimeter of the building. A communication mixup between the night monitor, central dispatch and the patrolling officers led Brookhart and O'Haver to believe Couch had left the building, Chrissotimos said.

John Mounsey, coordinator of facilities and process design for Residence Life, said O'Haver and Brookhart received word that Couch had "left the area."

"[DPS is] going to review the tape and see if there's something our night monitor could have said more clearly so they understood where [Couch] was and also if he identified himself clearly so that they knew to check in with him," Mounsey said. "So there's a few things we're looking at to see if we can tighten up a little bit."

Couch climbed several flights of stairs and entered a room. According to the probable cause statement filed by O'Haver, he got into bed with one of the sleeping students, who he did not know, and attempted to sexually assault her.

It is unclear whether the room was a random choice or a predetermined destination, although Mounsey and Chrissotimos said Couch, who was heavily intoxicated, might not have realized he was in Dobson Hall and might have been seeking a similar-numbered room in a different residence hall. Mounsey said the night monitor reported that Couch mentioned a room number during their short interaction but that it isn't clear whether he arrived at the same room he mentioned.

Adair County prosecutor Mark Williams, who filed the felony charges against Couch, said the student was able to get away from Couch.

"She was able to [get] him off the bed, and he landed on the floor," Williams said.

According to the probable cause statement, the two residents exited the room to get help. At 4:17 a.m., their student adviser placed another 911 call, and DPS, already near the building, responded immediately.

"By that point, [Couch] had passed out on the floor," Mounsey said.

In the probable cause statement, O'Haver wrote, "I began speaking to the male, but he did not respond. I applied pressure to the male's right hand pointer fingernail in an attempt to wake him up. The male opened his eyes. I informed him that I was a police officer and that I needed to speak with him. The male told me to stop lying to him."

Couch was taken quietly from the building by DPS so as not to cause a commotion, Chrissotimos said. He was placed in protective custody, then a 24-hour investigative hold while charges were pending. His arrest warrant was served the following afternoon, and he remains in the Adair County Detention Center.

"I can't just sit back quietly"

The resident whose bed Couch climbed into said all the members of the Truman community connected with the incident did their best but that the incident does signify a campus problem nonetheless. It is Index policy not to release the names of victims associated with sex-related crimes.

"What happened to me is not the fault of Residence Life, it's not the fault of the night monitor, it's not the fault of DPS or the SAs, and I think that everybody truly did their job to do whatever they could to help the situation," the resident said. "But I also can't just sit back quietly when I hear students and University officials and professors saying that there is not a problem with security in the residence halls. Because if there wasn't a problem, he wouldn't have even gotten a foot in the building, let alone up several floors, especially in the state he was in."

She said she does not want anyone else to have to endure a similar situation.

"I would feel morally wrong if I went through all of this only to have nothing change and to have someone else have to go through what my family and my friends and myself are all experiencing right now," the resident said.

She said she recognizes that change is not instant but that a student employee is not sufficient to keep intruders out of campus buildings.

"But I want some kind of security on the outside of the door," the resident said. "There's nothing keeping people from coming in right now. The only person that's there to stop them is some student frail little night monitor sitting at the desk who's not allowed to leave their post."

Although she said she should have locked her room door, she does not know if that solution would be adequate in all cases.

"I understand I didn't lock my door," she said. "That was a mistake. People make mistakes, and I made a mistake by not locking my door. But if somebody, heaven forbid, with an even worse intent [entered the building], even a locked door is not going to stop them. And we have no security measures right now to keep them out of the building at all."