Winthrop police find homeless man squatting in dorm, arrest him for drug possession

Winthrop University police arrested a homeless man they found squatting in the dorms and carrying drugs on campus.

Police determined the 22-year-old Lancaster man, who is not a student, had been living in student housing on the downtown Rock Hill campus and had reportedly been using drugs around students.

A campus police officer located the man on Thursday sitting on a bench in front of Wofford Hall on Thursday, where he reportedly had “a big box of clothes” and a black book bag sitting beside him. He reportedly told the officer he had been staying in different friends’ homes in the residence halls on campus because he didn’t have anywhere else to stay, and was now looking for alternative living arrangements because the halls were closed for fall break.

When asked about his alleged drug use, the man reportedly admitted he had “a little bit of coke” on him. The man then turned over a small baggie of powdered cocaine, as well as a pill bottle containing marijuana residue, two metal grinders and a digital scale, according to a campus police incident report.

The items were seized by police, and the young man was arrested for possession of cocaine and issued an indefinite trespass notice for all university-owned property.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 7:15 AM with the headline "Winthrop police find homeless man squatting in dorm, arrest him for drug possession."