ACU Police arrested a man for trespassing in Gardner Hall Saturday night, 11 days after Gardner residents reported a nearly identical incident before the suspect got away. ACU Police are actively investigating the arrest but haven’t concluded the same man was involved in both incidents.
Jeremy Dan Jacques
According to a Taylor County Sheriff’s office arrest report, Jeremy Dan Jacques, a 40-year-old Hispanic male, was booked in the county jail at 8:47 p.m. Saturday after Thomas Valdez, ACUPD patrol officer and lead detective, saw him crawling out of a bathroom window on the North side of Gardner. Valdez tackled Jacques and placed him in custody. After two residents confirmed they had seen Jacques on the second floor of the dormitory, Valdez took him to the county jail. Jacques is a 5-feet 2-inch, 140-pound Sweetwater native.
Jacques committed no crime other than Class-A trespassing and no motive is known, according to the police report. ACU Police issued him a formal Criminal Trespass Warning, which makes it an offense for him to come back to ACU properties.
Jacques was arrested for a similar incident last year on Oct. 31 and accused of peeping into women’s bathroom stalls in various Abilene businesses, according to a KTXS report.
Jacques has no affiliation with ACU.
Jimmy Ellison, ACU Police Chief, said the department increased patrol time around residence halls immediately after the first incident, and that helped to ensure the suspect was caught.
“We increased our patrol presence around all residence halls,” Ellison said. “We had every patrol officer check in twice per shift with desk workers at each residence hall.”
The night Jacques was caught, Valdez had patrolled the Gardner perimeter, parked, checked in with the desk worker briefly and returned to his vehicle to back out when he saw a man climbing out of the shower facility window. Ellison said the heightened patrol time helped to make the arrest possible.
“In response to that first incident, we took some immediate, proactive steps that led to this arrest,” Ellison said. “It was good police work, and I truly believe the steps we took led to apprehending the intruder.”
Madison Brown, freshman interior design major from Frisco, found a short Hispanic man in her friend Taylor Brown’s room in Gardner Feb. 7. Taylor said the news of the arrest eased their minds.
“We’re glad they caught someone,” said Taylor, freshman advertising and public relations major from Southlake. “We hope it’s the same guy for the sake of safety of everyone in the ACU community.”
ACUPD is working with the Sweetwater Police Department because when Jacques was arrested, he had stolen property from Sweetwater in his possession.
Ellison said having an unknown intruder in a res hall is a rare occasion and on-campus residents should feel safe.
“We’re working with residence life and facilities management to make sure the facility is as safe as can be,” he said. “While it’s rare, we’re not immune to crime. This should remind everyone to not get caught up in the ‘ACU Bubble’ mentality.”
Ellison cautioned first-floor residents on and off campus to keep windows secure.
“Keep your windows locked and keep your curtains closed at night,” Ellison said. “Don’t give Peeping Toms an easy target. Make sure people can’t see inside.”
Ellison said it’s necessary to alert the ACUPD as soon as students see suspicious activity.
“In the first incident there was a rather lengthy delay between when the suspect was spotted and when we received a call,” he said. “Alerting us when you see suspicious activity should be the first course of action.”
While Ellison couldn’t say for sure whether Jacques is the same man in the Feb. 7 incident, he said the two events were too similar to be a coincidence.
“We think we arrested the right guy,” he said. “The circumstances in each incident were nearly identical.”
