While hundreds of students danced for charity late Saturday night, one man snuck away from the dance floor and attempted to fund his own cause.
At about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, an EMU employee caught Ronald Leon Humphreys stealing Dance Marathon money from a desk drawer in the Leadership Resource Office. Officers from the Department of Public Safety detained Humphreys and Eugene Police later arrested him.
Dance Marathon, a nationwide network of college campuses that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network, organized an event that took place all day Saturday in the EMU Ballroom and included performances by the University’s cheerleading squad, the UO Jam Squad and the dance team. The event was nearly over when Humphreys was caught in the downstairs office where organizers had stowed the event’s proceeds.
“He had about a $75 wad of cash in his hand” when Assistant Director of Student Activities John Duncan found him, said DPS Officer Michael Drake.
“(Duncan) walked into the room where they were doing all their cash handling and found (Humphreys) rummaging around in the desk,” Drake said.
Had Duncan not caught him, Humphreys could have stolen the more than $31,000 raised at the event.
DPS spokeswoman Wendy Rouse said Humphreys is not from Eugene and has a clean criminal record in the area.