One student reportedly picked the worst possible time to jaywalk on campus, when he decided to cross the street between Little Hall and Library West early Thursday morning.
The student, Bryan Gallop, 18, said he was just trying to get to the Hub for Chick-Fil-A, and saw an opening in traffic. What he didn’t realize, was that there were about 85 police officers watching him from Turlington Plaza, Plaza of the Americas, and camouflaged in the bushes around him.
“I swear every law enforcement officer within half a mile heard his foot touch that pavement,”
Said Alice Jenkins, who witnessed the event when she was leaving a class in Turlington.
“I felt bad for him. But c’mon, who doesn’t spot a couple dozen dudes in uniform literally a few feet away from your face?”
Gallop said that before he could even reach the other side of the street, he was surrounded by police and troopers. Once he got to the sidewalk, however, he said that it took approximately 45 minutes for him to receive a ticket, since each one wanted to lecture him on pedestrian safety and road rules.
“Honestly, I think some of them thought I was protesting or pulling a prank or something,”
Gallop said, who was too afraid to walk the rest of the way to The Hub, so instead ordered an Uber.
“I don’t think they believed someone could genuinely have thought it was a good idea to do something clearly illegal on a day like today.”
After the incident was over, Gallop said he was told to be safe and given about 50 of what he described as ‘disappointed parent looks.’ Once he got his chicken biscuit he went to Marston to study, where he encountered at least 12 people who showed him copies of their own tickets. Gallop said he realized it could have been worse for him, however.
“At least I wasn’t the guy who was running to class and got tackled by four 250 pound men”
