After KnightNews.com first broke the story of this controversial UCF police traffic stop on Monday, other major local media operations have jumped all over the story as well. Take a look at the lead story on Fox 35 the day of the rally:

UPDATE 9/3/10 5:00PM:

KnightNews.com was able to attend the protest and shoot video of parts. Below you will find that video.

In addition, protesters composed a letter to present to the University, which Dr. John F. Schell, the Vice President and Chief of Staff of Academic Affairs, accepted on UCF’s behalf. We are working on obtaining a copy of the letter to post.

Finally, a representative for Professor Vest was in attendance, and spoke before KnightNews was able to arrive on the scene. Below is a transcript of her statement at the rally:

I tell my daughter we are
Purple People
Brown beige yellow red black
Teach her, tell her to be proud
To refuse categories
I teach her to challenge assumptions
To recognize bias from all sides

I tell her its not gonna be easy
Don’t mistake lust for love
Don’t make conditional acceptance
for love
Don’t make exotice adoration for love
I tell her its a gift
I tell her everyone will want what you
have
Don’t mistake that for love
I teach her to be proud of her people
I teach her to define herself
Differently from her friends
From her grandparents
From her mother if need be.

I tell her to find
Other purple people
I tell her to love them like her mother
Loves her
I tell her we’re all the same color inside
But nobody really sees things that way
Nobody, despite what they may say,
Really sees things that way.

I tell her people are gonna hate you
Regardless
I tell her people are gonna accuse you
Regardless
I tell her you can’t change the way
Everybody thinks
But you can be a shining example
Of what love is
I tell my daughter she is perfect

But the world is full of people
Blind despite perfect vision
I tell my daughter the world is not
perfect.

I tell my daughter we are black people
Red people, pink people, colored people
I tell my daughter we are a proud
people

I tell her people will not want you to be
proud

I tell her white people may hate you
Red people may deny you
Black people may reject you
Yellow people may shun you

I tell her
You will have
To love yourself more.

A growing group is gathering with signs, and word is a senior representative from administration may be present at 1 p.m.  on behalf of UCF. We’ll be there monitoring the situation.

Protesters gather outside

In reaction to this incident, students are hosting a demonstration at UCF in front of Millican Hall at 1pm on Friday, September 3rd. With the purpose of calling attention to this issue of safety, students will have an opportunity to share personal accounts of their experiences with UCF police. The demonstration is also aimed at raising awareness about students’ rights and responsibilities, as well as bringing to the foreground circumstances where these rights may have been violated. There will be spoken word performances, guest speakers, and a united front of students and faculty allied with the professor and those who have also felt themselves victims of discrimination by those sworn to protect.

Since the occurrence, many other students have come forward with their own grievances against UCFPD and express concern for the protection of their own rights. With the victim in this case being a prominent and beloved member of the UCF faculty, it has raised many eyebrows and much worry over the practices and tactics used by campus police officers. This event will not only raise awareness about what can be viewed as violations of civil rights by those in power, but will also lead up to a presentation of an open letter to President Hitt and the demand of a public statement.

The coalition of students behind the effort to seek justice for Dr. Vest and UCF students alike have a list of demands that includes:

1. A public apology be issued
2. Disciplinary actions be taken against the four officers in question and
3. All officers undergo sensitivity and diversity training on the issues of: professionalism, civil rights and liberties, and disability/medical, race, and gender issues

Although the matter is still under internal investigation, the rally is intended to raise awareness about the issue of safety and civil rights pertinent to both students and faculty.

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL ON MONDAY:

BREAKING UPDATE 5:10 PM:

The sheriff’s office confirmed the woman found in a pool of blood across the street from Scoop and Mellow Mushroom on Colonial was murdered.

The victim, Heather Young

WFTV Channel 9 reported at 5 p.m. they were told the murder victim is a mother of a UCF student. Officials have not yet confirmed that, however.

A dark colored Chevy Avalanche Pick up truck with shiny rims and dark tinted windows was seen in the area during the time of the murder.

A similar model to the suspected vehicle

If you have any information, call 1-800-423-TIPS.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies swarmed the University Inn on East Colonial Drive near Alafaya Trail, across the street from Scoop bar and behind Papa John’s Pizza, to investigate the death of someone on the hotel property Thursday morning, deputies on scene told KnightNews.com. (See map).

“Homicide investigators were called to the scene and confirm the death of a female victim,” OCSO sheriff’s spokesman Jeff Williamson told KnightNews.com. “Cause, manner of death, and age of victim are yet to be released.”

Deputies wouldn’t release any other information, but employees of the Days Inn who work next to the University Inn told KnightNews.com they were told the victim may be a female in her 20s — and the scene was extremely gruesome. That employee suspected her death was a murder.

Guests staying at the hotel told KnightNews.com this afternoon the woman was found “almost naked” lying in a parking spot at the hotel in a pool of blood. The guests said it appeared the woman was attacked so brutally, and there was so much blood, even her own son at first couldn’t identity the victim as his mother.

In the afternoon, Fire officials washed away the blood from the parking lot as families — including children — staying at the hotel gathered their things to cancel their stay early.

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12:20 pm update:
This death investigation playing out in a public place is the second to rock the UCF campus in less than one week. On Friday, a man was found dead in his car parked on campus. The cause of that death has not been released.

KnightNews.com was first on the scene and first media outlet in Orlando to break today’s death investigation. Since we broke the story, the Orlando Sentinel, and several other media outlets began investigating.

According to a report from WFTV Channel 9 Eyewitness News at noon, a guest at the hotel found the woman lying in a pool of blood around 6 a.m. and called 911. The hotel manager told WFTV he saw the woman lying in a pool of blood in the parking, and it was the most gruesome thing he’d ever seen.

KnightNews.com is returning to the scene to gather more information and will update you when we get it.

See slideshow of crime scene investigation by clicking NEXTPAGE below:

The woman who was attacked is not a UCF student, but many UCF students still live there. It’s not clear whether the victim is a student at a local community college.

The suspect was 5′ 7″ or taller with dark or tan skin tone and was dressed in all black or blue clothing and a dark hoodie, the police alert stated. No other description is available at this time.

UCF police still patrol the complex, and will step up patrols both on campus and at the Pegasus Landing and Pegasus Pointe Apartment complexes. UCF police alerted law enforcement in Seminole and Orange counties.

Anyone that has any information about this crime can call Crimeline at 407-423-TIPS or the University Police Department at 407-823-5555.

Knightnews.com went to one of these locations at the Central Florida Fair grounds and interviewed Lieutenant Robert Finlay of the Orange County Sheriff’s office about the program (See Video Below).

Lieutenant Finlay when asked how this program will affect UCF said “UCF is a part of our community in Central Florida, all of us will enjoy a reduction in crime that can be used with these weapons.”

Anyone is allowed to turn in guns anonymously even if the guns are illegal. Some of the guns that were turned in could even possibly lead to a third degree felony if someone were to be caught in possession of them.

At this location about 185 guns were collected around 2:30 PM Friday afternoon of the 1,016 total collected between the nine agencies.

Most of the guns will be destroyed according to Lieutenant Finlay and a select few could be converted for police use.

Jennifer Lynn Roqueta was 21. She was found dead in her Polos East apartment on Woodbury Road. A dead animal was also reportedly found with Roqueta.

Ryan Ray Scurlock, 24, who had reportedly been a student at UF, is suspected of killing her, according to TV reports. He was found dead at an Orange County gun range called the Shooting Gallery from an apparent self-infliected wound.

WESH 2 News is reporting the dead man’s roommate, Stefan Lewis, said Scurlock and Roqueta had dated in the past and went to a party Friday night. The next morning morning Lewis told WESH he started receiving alarming text messages from his friend.

“He just said that he had become a murderer and that Jen was lying dead on her floor in her apartment,” Lewis told WESH.

A co-worker of Roqueta’s, Antuan Mosley, expressed his grief on her Facebook page by writing her “life was tragically taken from us.”

Buffalo Wild Wings management released a statement to media covering the story.

“Our thoughts and condolences are with Jen’s family and friends,” read a statement from the restaurant Corp. “Jen was a wonderful, outgoing team member that will always be remembered in our hearts. Jen was a great asset to our organization and brought great joy to all who surrounded her, including our guests, team members, managers and friends. We will keep Jen’s memory in our thoughts always.”

“Jen was a great person to work with. We always had a lot of laughs and great conversations each time we worked together,” Mosley told the Sentinel. “She was a beautiful young girl with a lot going for her.”

Deputies have not released the manner of Roqueta’s death, but told the Sentinel they forced their way into her third-story apartment and found her body after getting tip calls to check on her well being.

According to a KnightNews.com readers who lives in the same complex as the victim, her parents had already come to clean out her belongings.

KnightNews.com is working to gather more information. Check back for updates.

UCF chemistry major William Cecil, who turns 22 Friday, was the one to blame, according to the sheriff’s office. In addition to 13 grams of meth deputies found in Cecil’s apartment, he also had a stash of 31 grams of vicodin, 28 grams of pot, and 6 grams of cocaine, Hopkins said.

According an arrest report, Tiffany S. Irizarry, a manager at the Campus Crossing apartments, located a stone’s throw from UCF, called deputies after she got a tip from a resident there were suspicious items inside apartment 1170 at 12024 Royal Wulff Lane.

Irizarry told deputies she and another manager conducted some research about the chemicals, and “realized they could be consistent with the ingredients needed to “cook crystal
methamphetamine” and called the sheriff’s non-emergency line, the report stated.

When deputies arrived a hazmat situation was declared due to a “toxic environment” and 50 residents were ordered out of their homes at about 5:45 p.m.

Sometime after 7 p.m., KnightNews.com crews were on the scene of the Campus Crossing club house where a group of displaced residents gathered with no idea there was a meth lab in their complex.

KnightNews.com asked a female employee of the complex what was going on. At that point, a resident screamed, “It’s a gas leak!”

The employee appeared to nod in confirmation, didn’t deny it was a gas leak, and then told residents she thought it would be about be about an hour until everything cleared up and said she’d try to bring some bottled water out by the pool until things calmed down.

Unfortunately for residents, the entire scene didn’t clear until 2:30 a.m., several hours later, according to the report.

Eventually, most tenants were put in other apartments or hotel rooms for the night by the management, according to OCSO.

Although this all played out in OCSO’s jurisdiction, UCF police were called to the scene due to the crime scene’s proximity to UCF and because many of the suspects were UCF students.

When all was said and done, only one UCF student, Cecil, faced drug charges, and his roommates were deemed not to be responsible.

A 25-year-old friend of Cecil’s, Steven Brian Bardill, was however arrested when deputies found about 50 pills of oxycodone on him, according to his arrest report.

READ THE OCSO REPORT ABOUT THE CAMPUS CROSSING METH LAB ON NEXT PAGE:

A South African court dropped the charges after a special hearing, according to reports.

Hilton was arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana, the Associated Press reported, after a quarterfinal match between Brazil and the Netherlands.

A spokesperson told the AP Hilton’s friend, Jennifer Rovero, took the blame for having the pot. Rover, 31, was sentenced to a fine amounting to $130 or 30 days in jail.

Hilton’s publicist came to her defense, calling the incident a “misunderstanding.”

“Paris Hilton was questioned today by police in South Africa on allegations of smoking marijuana,” publicist Dawn Miller, said in a statement to the AP.

“However I can confirm that the incident was a complete misunderstanding and it was actually another person in the group who did it,” the statement said. “The case has been dropped against Paris and no charges will be made.”

Hilton reportedly thanked the court after the charges were dropped, and later tweeted about the ordeal.

“Hey guys, there’s a lot of crazy rumors going around. Just want you all to know the truth. Everything is completely fine. I was not charged or arrested, cause I didn’t do anything,” Hilton tweeted.

The horrifying ordeal unfolded just after midnight Tuesday morning. It happened at a home off Alafaya Trail and Eastcove drive.

View Larger Map

One of the victims was reportedly smoking a cigarette outside his home when the two robbers came out of nowhere and ordered him inside his home. That man, his roommate and one of their girlfriends were then robbed. Although they all live very close to UCF, local media is reporting they don’t appear to be UCF students.

KnightNews.com will keep investigating this one and post any updates.

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The serial rapist is still on the loose right now, and according to media reports, all three women the man has attacked are tied to UCF.

Out of the three victims, two were UCF students and the most recent was a UCF employee. Some were raped, while others escaped his attack before a full rape took place, according to reports.

KnightNews.com is continuing to work with OCSO and UCF to bring you the latest updates and information related to the serial rapist targeting the UCF area.

UCF police Cheif Ricahrd Beary released this campus update earlier today. We pasted it for you below. Keep checking back for updates.

Submitted for: Richard Beary, Police Chief
Subject: Crime Alert and Safety Tips

The UCF Police Department reminds students to remain vigilant about safety and
to take precautions that help to prevent crime.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has informed UCF Police of a recent sexual
assault and robbery in the East Orlando area. If you have any information
regarding these crimes, please contact Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.

To report a crime or any suspicious activity, dial 9-1-1 and give your location
if you are using a cell phone.

Students also are encouraged to follow these tips that help to prevent crime:

Keep your doors locked at all times, even if you are only away for a few
moments. Do not “prop open” your doors.

Make sure hallways, entrances, garages and ground areas are well lit. Leave
porch lights on all night, and when you expect to return after dark, leave an
interior light on with shades drawn. If you live on campus, you can report any
malfunctioning light to 407-823-5223.

Know who is at your door before you open it. If you live off campus, install a
peephole in your front door.

While on campus, students are encouraged to use the Police Department’s free
Safety Escort Patrol Service. For more information, visit
www.police.ucf.edu/Escort.

Walk or jog with a friend. Avoid jogging after dark. If you must, stay in
well-lit areas and walk between curbs and buildings and away from alleys and
bushes.

Please visit the Police Department’s Crime Prevention Web page,
www.police.ucf.edu/CrimePreventiondetails for a more detailed list of safety
tips.

UPDATE: The rapist who struck over the weekend was the same man we told you about trying to rape a girl using a flashlight to distract her at Heather Glen Apartments, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Detectives believe these crimes may be related to two previous incidents involving a burglary to the residence and a sexual battery due to the similarities in each investigation. These incidents have occurred over the past year; with the first occurring on May 2009, followed by a second incident in February 2010. These have occurred within east Orange County apartment complexes and to separate victims.

The suspect is identified as a dark skinned male, late 20’s in age, 5’10, 180 to 190 lbs. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is currently using all possible resources and assets to ascertain if these incidents are related and to identify the person responsible.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office will increase its presence within the area and ask anyone with information that may aid in our investigation, to call the Sheriff’s Office or CRIMELINE at 1-800-426-TIPS.

We would also ask that members of the public report any suspicious activity or person in their area.

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At approximately 10:00 am today Orange County Sheriff’s Patrol deputies responded to the call of a robbery at the Sterling University Apartments, 11600 Mendel Drive. Two suspects are believed to have robbed an individual on the property taking an undisclosed amount of cash, and injuring the suspect. (NLT) The suspects were armed and described as a white male and a black male. They were believed to have fled on foot. Robbery detectives have responded and K9 and Mounted are also on scene.

KnightNews.com crews are on scene now and see a sheriff’s chopper hovering in the area and can confirm parts of the neighborhood are blocked off.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to KnightNews.com a robbery happened in the area and that’s why deputies are using sheriff’s office dogs and the chopper in order to try and catch the robber right now.

Mendel Drive is one of the area’s blocked off.

Earlier today, a home invasion was reported by UCF’s text alert. It’s unclear at this point if the police activity is related, but a sheriff’s spokesperson told KnightNews.com this incident is related to a robbery reported at 10:02 a.m., and not a home invasion.

Check back for updates.