Maya Little

Manhattan College Overlook Manor Residents Alarmed by Intruder

Wednesday night Manhattan College Overlook Manor apartment residents and security were alarmed and disturbed by the entrance of an unidentified male. The male was identified by the policed as 34 year old Damian Delgado. Delgado’s entrance not only frightened MC residents, but also was reminiscent of a few years ago.  

“This is serious and dangerous. Security has to do a better job,” said Overlook Manor resident Siri Fienagter.

According to the report, at approximately 9:30pm on October 27 Delgado followed two Manhattan College female students into Overlook Manor apartments.  Running into the building, he followed the students into the inner lobby and refused to stop when ordered by the security officer.  The security officer sent an emergency alert to all security units.

Yasmin Mendez, a representative for MC security guards claimed that “MC security and Residence Life responded immediately” however Overlook resident, Justin Harx stated that Delgado “was wondering in the hallway for ten minutes” before being detained by security.  

 “The security officer at the desk intervened by stepping between the students and Delgado. The security officer provided the students a safe area within the security office,” said Mendez.  

The female students involved in incident refused an interview.

Before Delgado was detained by security he made his way up to the third floor, alarming students. Delgado also attempted to coax a student into the elevator.

“He just walked right into my room,” said MC junior Nick Estis with a confused face.

“We usually keep our door unlocked while we are in the room because we never would have thought that someone off the street would be able to get past the lobby security desk. Fooled me,” said Estis roommate, Justin Harx.

“Me along with one of my roommates followed him down the hall and cornered him. We were just making sure he didn’t hurt anyone. When he screamed the words ‘STOP’ at us we back off a little. We were then worried about our safety and what he would do to us if we continued walking closer to him,” stated Harx.

“It took security ten minutes to show up and when he finally arrived the way he jacked up and slammed the man to the ground was as though he had been waiting for that moment for a long time,” Harx said while chuckling. “Watching that was like watching a superhero movie”.  

Delgado was detained by security personnel until the police arrived and arrested him.

Both the security officer on duty that night and the security officer who detained Delagado identifications were not released.

A MC security guard stated that the security officer on duty that night at Overlook Manor apartment acted accordingly. The security guard is not allowed to leave their post if an incident like this occurs. The security officer on duty has to call for backup.

Two days after the incident, Mendez sent a “security alert” email about the occurrence to all MC students and staff. The email included vague details about the incident, a short list of safety tips, and a description of Delgado along with a picture of him. Also the email stated that Delgado lives in the community and may be seen in the area and to only call 911 if he is engaged in criminal activity.

No response was given when asked why the email was sent out two day post to the occurrence.

MC senior Maria Del Russo who resides in the Majestic apartments near Overlook Manor stated that Delgado was her “super” before he got fired in early September.

“We never really got a clear answer as to why, but after that we started seeing him hang out around the steps next to our building. Every time we passed him, he looked high. We knew he'd had a police record and that he'd been in Rikers Prison for some time, but I never thought he'd get so messed up that he'd chase after some girls. He never so much as hit on any of us or looked at us the wrong way,” said Del Russo.

“I met him back in June when I gave him the money for the lease. He was super friendly and seemed very willing to help out, since the last Super had almost screwed us out of money for the apartment. He was very good about keeping up with the work we needed when we first moved into the apartment. We even gave him our spare set of keys so he could do work in our place, like paint and replace the stove. However, he started to slack off towards the end of August, when my other roommates were moving in, and when we asked him to speed up, he asked us to ‘take care of him’. He was basically asking to pay him some money, or ‘grease’ him, to give him incentive to keep working. We did, and most of the work got done, but our kitchen is still unpainted (even though he promised to paint it before we moved in). Also, he replaced our stove and hooked it up improperly which caused us to have a gas leak.”

Del Russo and her roommates have requested to get their locks changed.

“They make sure that students who attend MC don’t get pass security without their i.d being swiped, but here a total stranger got pass security. How does that happen,” said MC freshman Salim Corbin.  

“I don’t see how something like this could happen,” said Marita Keane, MC East Hill resident.

“I know things happen, but things like this should never happen,” said Andrew Petrovich, MC Horan Hall resident.

MC residence life office had no response about the incident.

As of Wednesday night, MC security has been alerted to call 911 if Delgado returns to campus or alarms anyone.