A man with a criminal history has been banned from Biola’s campus after being discovered by Campus Safety on Tuesday night with suspicious items.

Jonathan James Holmes, a 27-year-old, was apprehended in the men’s locker room of Chase Gymnasium on Tuesday after visiting the same location earlier in the week. He was removed from campus with the help of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Campus Safety issues a safety advisory

He had with him “numerous articles of feminine clothing, makeup, and wigs to name a few [items],” according to the safety advisory issued today by Campus Safety.

This safety advisory was sent to Residence Life to pass on to all on-campus students.

“We want to make sure that students who live here are aware,” public information officer Justin Shelby said.

Holmes had frequented the locker room before, but this was the first incident where Campus Safety was notified according, to Shelby.

His history of coming on campus without reason, combined with Holmes’ suspicious behavior, resulted in him being escorted off campus. He was issued an official trespassing notice, banning him from returning.

The safety advisory includes a picture of Holmes and a description so students can be on the lookout for him if he was to return. crime alerts are not given for every trespasser on campus, but are only sent when it is best for students to remain cautious.

Though the alert mentions Holmes’ criminal record, Campus Safety was unable to provide details because the information was provided by the sheriff’s department.

Trespassing is a recurring issue on Biola’s campus, and Campus Safety says they are aware of this.

“We stop and talk to people every single day,” explained Shelby, saying that Campus Safety deals with several trespassers a week.

Another trespasser today not tied to Holmes

Campus Safety was alerted Thursday by a gatehouse attendant that another suspicious-looking man was seen entering the La Mirada entrance. After following the man on campus surveillance cameras, Campus Safety officers spoke with him on the path between Emerson Hall and the Caf.

The officers determined he was suspicious, and though not related to Holmes, they escorted him off campus and issued him a trespassing notification.

Campus Safety is notified many different ways about suspicious characters. The process for determining if someone is trespassing always begins with Campus Safety discussing the person’s purpose for being on campus. If the person is reported by multiple people as seeming suspicious or if there are any criminal elements involved, Campus Safety will ban the person from campus. The sheriff’s department also steps in for cases with criminal elements, such as drug paraphernalia or weapons.

Making students aware

The point of consistently stopping and speaking to people who appear to have no business on campus is to protect Biola even in the smallest things, chief John Ojeisekhoba said.

While trespassing may not be a huge focus for public universities’ campus law enforcement units, Biola’s Campus Safety focuses on apprehending trespassers in order to prevent larger problems. While they cannot intercept everyone, Ojeisekhoba explained, Campus Safety tries to do their best.

“We just do as much as we can. … We know we’re not going to stop everything, but we just put in our best as a team,” he said.

The bulletin was not issued to create an atmosphere of fear for students, but instead to make students aware, the chief said.