Timothy D. Thomas, 53, of Gary, is awaiting trial on charges he held two men at gunpoint last month while robbing a coin shop only two miles from the school.
Kris Falzone, a spokeswoman for PUC, said Monday, "Timothy Thomas was not a Purdue Calumet employee. He was an ISM security employee. He was assigned by ISM to Purdue Calumet facilities. He is no longer employed by them."
Falzone declined to comment further about Thomas' duties on campus. ISM didn't return calls seeking comment.
A sophomore at the school, who asked to remain anonymous, said Thomas regularly worked the midnight shift at University Village, a dormitory complex that is home to 745 Purdue students.
The Department of University Police is responsible for campus security at Purdue Calumet, according to the school's website, but university officials reported before opening the dormitories in 2005 they would employ a private security company to patrol from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
"Why didn't anyone tell us? Many of us feel very unsafe that a person that used a shotgun during a robbery was the same person that was protecting us while staying at the dorms," the student said in an email to The Times.
"We feel that Purdue owes us some explanation as to why they didn't inform us of this very serious incident and just what did they do to insure our safety."
Falzone said, "All Purdue Calumet employees go through background checks and we do demand of vendors, that they all go through a background check. So he would have been cleared through a background check before being employed at any Purdue Calumet facility."
Hammond police allege Thomas drove up to J and J Coins, in the 7000 block of Calumet Avenue the morning of May 20 in a light green Ford Taurus wearing body armor and a UPS uniform and carrying boxes. Police said he walked into the store and pulled a sawed-off shotgun on the manager.
Thomas allegedly forced the man to the floor and bound his arms and legs with zip ties. While Thomas was ransacking the store, a customer entered and was bound, too, police said.
Police said Thomas eventually fled the store with a bag filled with gold bars, diamonds, coins, baseball cards, a Taurus revolver and other valuables. The two witnesses eventually cut themselves free and called police.
CLTV television station broadcast video surveillance footage and still photos of the robbery the following day. Police received a call from a man who said he recognized the suspect as Thomas and as a former co-worker at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.
Police said they and a Gary SWAT team raided Thomas' home in the 3600 block of Fillmore Street on May 22, arrested him and found hundreds of old coins in packages marked with the store's price stickers, two disassembled shotguns with short barrels, a Taurus .38-caliber revolver, gold chains and rings, a UPS uniform and zip ties.
Police said the store manager identified Thomas as the holdup man and items in Thomas' home as stolen from his store.
The student and other students either saw the TV broadcast or later heard of Thomas' arrest, the student said. Thomas had worked at Purdue Calumet's dormitories the night after the robbery.
"He seemed to be a nice man, but it scares many of us to think that after the robbery he was working as if nothing happened. It is scary to hear the man who was robbed saying that he thought (Thomas) was going to kill him had he not did what he was told," the student wrote in the email.
"My parents are very upset because they also attempted to get information about this and was told nothing. Had it not been me pleading with my parents, I would not be going back to PUC."
Lake Criminal Court officials have entered not guilty pleas on Thomas' behalf to six felony counts of armed robbery, criminal confinement, dealing in a sawed-off shotgun, pointing a firearm and unlawful use of body armor. A trial date has not been scheduled yet.
Source-HammondCommunity.net