The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Slater student charges being processed

Charges against a University of Iowa student are still being processed after officials found questionable chemicals in his dorm room.

Authorities are still investigating what the chemicals found on a Slater Hall third-floor room were being used for. 

There are pending charges for a student, said Dan Stepleton, a special agent with the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

“We don’t think it was a manufacturing process going up there,” Stepleton said. “The room is safe to go into, and charges are pending.”

Stepleton said there was a report of a male student who seemed to display overdose symptoms that could be caused by illicit narcotics.

On Sunday evening, University of Iowa police responded to a report of a disoriented resident in the Slater lobby, a residence hall located across from Rienow, near the Field House and the UI Hospitals and Clinics complex.

Authorities arrived on the scene about 7:45 p.m., according to information released by UI officials on Monday. The student was transported to UI Hospitals and Clinics for treatment about 8:20 p.m.

Around 9 p.m., UI police and Housing and Dining officials evacuated the residents of the 499-bed dorm while the chemicals were assessed and removed.

“When we got into the room, we saw things that look like chemicals,” Green said on Sunday at a press conference. “We were very concerned if they were hazardous, and that’s why we evacuated the building.”

According to the UI press release, Johnson County Drug Task Force authorities, as well as agents from the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, obtained a search warrant for the room after the chemicals were found.

“We found no threat of explosion or toxic gas, our two main concerns,” Chuck Green, the assistant vice president for the UI police, said in a statement. “Student safety is our top priority, and we’re grateful for Slater residents’ cooperation.”

Officials allowed all residents to return to Slater at about 11:20 p.m., except for those who lived on the third floor.

Green said on Sunday in a press conference that the third floor was considered a “crime scene.”

After the investigation of the area was completed, authorities and residence hall staff allowed the third-floor residents to return.

According to the news release, the one male student is continuing to recover at UI Hospitals and Clinics. Officials from the Office of the Dean of Students are inspecting whether the student violated any UI policies.

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