Off-campus incident leads to police presence near TAs – The Miscellany News

On the evening of Sept. 11, a traffic stop on Main Street in the city of Poughkeepsie extended to the campus of Vassar University when the driver of the car prompted police to pursue him to Terrace Lane, according to a Sept. 17 New York State Police memo.

According to the memo, Daquan Jahan Killian, 36, of Poughkeepsie was driving a 2012 Toyota Highlander when New York State Police, in conjunction with Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County police, initiated a traffic stop for traffic law violations. When they arrived at Terrace Lane, Killian and her passenger, an unnamed 16-year-old, fled on foot and were arrested nearby without incident, the memo states.

Carrie Lewis (Year 26) was walking with a friend near Manchester Gate at around 6.40pm when they stopped to watch a family of deer. In a correspondence, Lewis recalled: “Suddenly the deer became very nervous and started to run away, which prompted us to move closer to the edge of the road, but not completely away from it, and we started to run towards the [Terrace Apartments (TAs)] . But then we heard this really loud scratching noise coming from the Manchester Gate entrance, which alerted us to a blue SUV speeding down the road straight towards us.”

“Immediately after this happened, another car, a smaller gray one, passed us, also speeding toward us, following the blue car that had driven to the TAs,” she said. Lewis and her friend were able to safely avoid the vehicles and returned to their dorm when they heard police sirens. Police investigators later confirmed that the first car seen by Lewis was Killian's Toyota and that the second car was likely an undercover police car.

The Miscellany News spoke with Anna Kozloski '25 [Disclaimer: Kozloski is a columnist for The Miscellany News] about her encounter with a suspect. “It was about 6:40 a.m. and I was just exiting the lower front door of my TA,” Kozloski began. “I turned left onto the gravel path toward the TA bridge, I heard someone screaming behind me, and then I turned around and of course took off my headphones, and then I realized it was a man with a gun yelling at me to get the hell back inside,” she continued. Kozloski explained that she slowly retreated into her apartment and alerted two of her roommates, Tianyu Xiong, 25, and Liam Hilton, 25.

However, it is not confirmed that the person Kozloski saw is a suspect. In a follow-up meeting on Tuesday, September 17, Luis Inoa, associate dean of the College for Residential and Wellness, told Kozloski that the man she encountered was likely a plainclothes police officer, considering the timing of her report. In a written letter to The variousKozloski wrote: “I was not aware of this at the time, as he was not wearing a uniform and never made it clear to me that he was a police officer.”

The various also spoke to Xiong about his behavior after Kozloski's warning. “I remember saying, essentially, 'Okay, we should stay on the upper floor of the house and probably stay away from the windows.'” While they waited, Kozloski called Vassar's Campus Response Center (CRC), and the respondent said the office had already been notified of the current situation.

Arlene Sabo, director of campus security, responded to a request for more information on the timeline of events. In an email correspondence, Sabo wrote, “Campus security was notified of police activity on campus at approximately 6:45 p.m. and immediately dispatched officers to the area. Calls from both local police (Town of Poughkeepsie Police, who were called to assist New York State Police) and witnesses on campus began coming in within seconds.” Students were officially notified of police activity in the area via phone call and email circular at 7:34 p.m.

Describing the outcome of the chase, Sabo said, “One particular fact that may be helpful to people is that the driver of the car was immediately apprehended and it was not until a subsequent search of the car that a weapon was found.” She continued, “The second person police were looking for was located by police some distance from campus at approximately 7:50 p.m. After this was confirmed, a second alert was sent to campus and a summary was subsequently emailed to campus.” The alert was officially lifted via email and text message at 8:06 p.m. and the follow-up email from Emergency Management Lt. Gary Hulbert was distributed at 8:58 p.m.

Students expressed mixed feelings about the response of campus security, particularly the time lag between notifications and events.

“The most disturbing thing about the whole thing was that at around 6:45 [p.m.]Anna was shouted at [by] a man with a gun, then it was not [until] 7:34 [p.m.] when we heard something from Vassar, and finally at 8:58 [p.m.]we received the email stating that the man was in police custody,” Hilton wrote in a statement to the Miscellaneous news.

Kozloski commented, “When I think about it, the most stressful part was the aftermath when we were locked in our house and didn't know what to do. And they didn't email until almost an hour after the incident.” She added, “My friends and I kind of freaked out and tried to text everyone who lived in the TAs or in that area, like, 'Look, this just happened. Please stay inside and pass this message on to anyone you think might be affected by this.'”

Lewis reported that she called CRC the next day to ask more questions. She was connected to local investigators at the police station for further explanation. “We were concerned about the second car that was closely following the first, but the officer told us not to worry and that the second car was most likely an undercover police car handling the situation. So campus security was quick to respond to our efforts, but we didn't ask until the next day and not during the action, so I'm not sure if it would have been different if we had called sooner,” she wrote.

The investigation revealed that Killian and her passenger were in illegal possession of a 9 mm Glock Model 43 pistol, the memo said.

Both individuals were charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors, including second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony. Killian was arraigned in Poughkeepsie City Court and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail, and the 16-year-old was released to his guardian, the memo said.

On Thursday, September 12, The various saw a police officer and two other people with a dog unit in the brush-covered area below the TAs where the incident occurred the previous day. Regarding this search, Sabo wrote: “The day after the incident, police conducted a cursory search of the area to look for a cell phone. No investigative action is pending.”