USD football players lock armed burglar in closet

Football players return to Valley B after football camp to an intruder with a knife

Karisa Kampbell / News Editor / The USD Vista

While the USD football team arrives early each fall to train and prepare for the upcoming season, this year’s football camp came with an unprecedented surprise. After practice on Aug 18, the football team stayed in the dorms of Valley B as part of their summer training camp. They returned home to a startling discovery; an intruder had been rummaging through an apartment on the first floor. 

Jon Grieves, defensive line player and sophomore, shared his reaction to the unexpected surprise in his dorm. 

“It was like 9:30 at night and we were just getting back to Valley B after our football meetings, and we were just chilling in the main room,” Grieves recalls. “And my buddy walked out of his room and noticed that some of his stuff was missing. Then his roommate came out and was like yeah some of my stuff is stolen, we have a thief among us, we have to find out who it is.”

Grieves continued by explaining exactly how they came to the conclusion that it wasn’t one of the football players stealing their things, but rather it was an intruder. 

 “Ron (another defensive line player on USD’s football team) and another one of my buddies walk into the room and they start opening the drawers just trying to find what’s up. Then my buddy tried to open the closet, but it wouldn’t open. We thought it was locked, so Ron goes over and yanks the door and this guy’s arm pops out,” Grieves explains. “He closes the door and starts yelling. Everyone ran in and locked him in the closet. He told us that he was armed with a knife so we kept him in (the closet). A few of us called psafe (Public Safety) and the cops and psafe rolled up and basically they got him out.”

While Grieves’ telling of the story provides a first-hand experience of what it was like being in Valley B when this event occurred, Quinton Kawahara, Captain of the Department of Public Safety, is able to clearly and concisely disclose as many details as possible regarding the event. This is still an ongoing investigation through the District Attorney’s office. 

“On August 18, at around 9:30 p.m. some of the football players were returning from their football camp in Valley B area. In one of the rooms they actually encountered a subject inside one of the closets,” Kawahara stated. “At that time they alerted Public Safety, and luckily we were able to respond almost immediately to the call. San Diego police arrived fairly quickly as well. There was a large response from them including several officers and a canine officer due to the type of incident as well as the police helicopter that was overhead.”

Additionally, Kawahara shares other ways in which the Department of Public Safety handles criminal situations like this. 

“In addition to our response, we always try to send out a safety alert, which was sent out that night, just to alert the community what happened,” Kawahara said. 

Kawahara also disclosed some safety tips for residents to follow in order to help keep our community safe and prevent further crimes like this from happening again on campus. 

These tips include: making sure windows are closed, if not closed already and] still have the screen in, keeping exterior doors that lead to residential rooms closed, reporting any suspicious activity students may see on campus, and looking out for each other. 

 “Make sure that residents are aware and looking out for one another also besides their own safety. Challenge those that don’t look like they belong in the area. By now all residents are familiar with who resides in their dorm area.”

Despite finding an armed burglar hiding in their closet, Grieves and his team mates were able to find a silver lining. 

“We never expected something like that to happen and honestly to this day I still can’t believe it happened. It felt really surreal,” Grieves shared. “Honestly, it was a good bonding experience. We had a big problem in our dorm room and we were able to figure it out together, as a team.”

This case is still an active case in the District Attorney’s office. The court date, which was supposed to occur last week, was rescheduled for a later date. While there may not be a conclusion to the criminal case yet, at least all members of the football team present are safe and can view this intense situation as a moment of growth for the team.