Tristen Cortez EDINBURG – Housing for the first time is an opportunity for students to relax and enjoy the college experience, but for one student at the Grande Apartments off-campus in Edinburg, that experience has been turned upside-down.
Tysheania Lee, Social Work junior at UTRGV, began residency at the Grande Apartments this Fall semester.
On the morning of Aug. 26, Lee, who stayed in the night before decorating her room, went outside and discovered footprints on the top of her car and a cracked windshield.
Lee said Ashley Mora, the general manager of the Grande Apartments, told her that there was a party the night of the incident, and multiple noise complaints were received.
“To my surprise, there was an on-site officer, and he was on shift that night making rounds,” Lee said. “Even though he was there in presence, something like this was still able to happen and no answers are able to be provided to me.”
After speaking with an officer from the Edinburg Police Department to file a report, Lee created flyers, posts on UTRGV’s Student Facebook page, and a petition on Change.org advocating for the implementation of security cameras in the Grande Apartments parking lot.
Lee said she praises the efforts of the UTRGV community, who have shared their support and currently amassed over 300 signatures on the petition.
In response to the incident, the Grande Apartments released a statement, saying:
“We are working with law enforcement as they investigate the matter […] and are receiving extra patrolling from the Edinburg Police Department.”
The apartments are offering a reward of one-month free installment credit for any resident that submits information of on-site criminal activity leading to an arrest.
Despite filing a report with the Edinburg PD, Lee said the officer had not commenced an investigation into the incident as of Friday.
