Story updated Tuesday, May 9, at 8 p.m.
Public Safety officers took a man into custody and searched his car after receiving a call about a suspicious man in parking lot F on Tuesday morning.
At about 9 a.m., Deputy Chief of Public Safety Robert Wren said that officers had located the man and apprehended him, and were searching his car for “something definitive.”
The man, identified as Jason Ellis, was later taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for possession of narcotics and an open container of alcohol in his vehicle.
While searching Ellis’ car, an officer appeared to remove an open bottle of alcohol from the rear passenger-side seat. Approximately eight Public Safety vehicles had surrounded the man’s vehicle, which was backed into a parking spot.
According to a statement released to the school about the event, Ellis, 42, is a former Mt. SAC student who took classes in 2009.
He is also listed on the California Department of Justice’s Megan’s Law website, where he is listed as having two previous indecent exposure offenses, at least one of which he was convicted of in 2007. The site also lists an offense for annoying or molesting someone under the age of 18.
The statement added, “Two students walking to class, and an employee walking to work, saw the suspect behaving suspiciously inside his car and immediately reported it to Public Safety.”
A female witness who was watching officers search the man’s car said the man had made her uncomfortable, but that she was not the person who tipped officers off.
She said that the man had pulled his car in front of hers and began to stare at her, and that his seat was reclined which made it difficult to see any identifying features. She said it felt as though the man was trying to catch her attention.
He then pulled into a parking spot within view of her car and continued to stare at her until she moved her car behind another. When he left, she thought to look for a description of his car to report him to Public Safety, but said that officers were already in the lot looking for him.
It was not clear if Ellis was the man responsible for the indecent exposures that occurred on campus on May 4 and April 12.
Those with any information related to this incident, or those wishing to report any suspicious activity, can reach Public Safety by phone at 909-274-4555, by texting an anonymous tip to 909-610-9139, by calling 911 or through any of the Blue Phones positioned around campus.
