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Cedar Fest arrests made using Web site

April 13, 2008

East Lansing police have identified nine new suspects in crimes stemming from the April 5-6 Cedar Fest riot by reviewing video and photographic evidence taken during the event.

As of Friday afternoon, police had issued warrants for five of the suspects and already arrested three. Mechanical engineering freshman Clark Leamon, 18, chemical engineering junior Merek Roman, 21, and Tyler Murray, 19, of Grand Rapids, all face misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges.

More warrants will come as police confirm the identities of individuals in the images, East Lansing police Lt. Kevin Daley said.

“The guys have been extremely busy following up on all the tips,” Daley said. “We’ve received numerous e-mails and phone calls.”

Within 24 hours after police created a Web site for civilians to identify suspects in video and photographs from Cedar Fest, it received more than 14,000 hits, Daley said. He said about half of the individuals identified through the Web site are MSU students.

East Lansing police Sgt. Scott Wriggelsworth said police will continue making arrests throughout the summer and into the fall as they receive more tips.

“Even if we can hold someone accountable six months form now, hopefully that will deter something like this from happening again,” Wriggelsworth said.

Police and the university have created a $20,000 reward fund to be distributed among tipsters whose identification of suspects leads to charges and convictions. Wriggelsworth said the amount each person receives will depend on the type of offense a suspect is charged with.

“As we can get pictures on there, hopefully our justice will be swift,” Wriggelsworth said.

Wriggelsworth said both East Lansing and MSU police are working to identify the suspects in the photographs and videos.

Daley said additional charges could be added to some suspects’ cases, but most individuals will only be charged with misdemeanors. However, according to a statement released by the city Friday, some individuals will receive felony charges.

Daley said in order to be charged with a felony, a suspect would have to be shown in a photograph or video directly targeting a civilian or police officer with the intent to harm.

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