Firefighters discovered evidence of squatters on the ground level of a University Park North building when they responded to a fire alarm that awoke residents early Feb. 16, according to SF State's University Police Department.
San Francisco Fire Department identified a portable skillet in an electrical room as the cause of an alarm that sent strobe lights through the halls of 265 Buckingham Way. The recently used grill was still hot to the touch with burnt food on it when it was found, according to UPD Officer Edward Palor.
Across from the electrical room, Palor entered two unlocked doors including the janitor's sink room, which was drenched with the scent of urine and an unmarked closet that contained scattered articles of clothing, bedding and garbage.
In late October of last year, a master key that opened doors to every apartment in UPN was reported stolen. University employees managed to re-key over 3,000 apartments at UPN and the Towers at Centennial Square within days, Golden Gate Xpress reported previously.
It is unconfirmed as to whether the stolen keys also opened maintenance rooms and closets in the UPN towers.
Trespassers were last found on SF State campus almost a year ago when, after they were discovered in a Mary Ward Hall dorm room, they engaged in a scuffle with police. Most of the trespassers were members of the then recently disbanded squatters collective SF Commune, Golden Gate Xpress reported previously.
Before then, a squat persisted from 2002 to 2012 on SF State's campus at the site of the defunct San Francisco High School of the Arts building on Tapia Drive, Xpress Magazine reported previously.
In February, the UPD arrested someone asleep in the J. Paul Leonard Library when officers were flagged down at five in the morning, according to the UPD arrest and crime log. They learned that multiple warrants were out for the subject, including one felony, but it is unclear whether the individual slept in the library with the intent to squat.
Individuals may lose their library privileges for exhibiting disruptive hygiene or behavior, according to the library policy, but it is not illegal for them to sleep on the premises, where students are allowed limited 24-hour access.
I wasn't squatting — I rented this on Airbnb! Totally legit!