A tipster just wrote that he saw 10 cops handcuff a man outside Lerner and take him away. Apparently there were a lot of cops and Public Safety folk around. Bwog was outside Lerner a few minutes later, but found nothing- no cop cars, no Lerner personnel. We’ll update you as soon as we get more information, but if you saw or heard anything, please email tips@bwog.net or leave a comment.

Update: Public Safety confirms the arrest, and we’re waiting on details.

Update, 3 PM: Alright, here’s the lowdown from James McShane, VP for Public Safety. A man named Daisuke Mizouchi was arrested last night outside Lerner Hall. He was “engaged in a bogus theater ticket scam.” Basically, he would offer Broadway tickets for sale, take the money, and not deliever any tickets. “In at least five cases,” McShane wrote Bwog in an email, “he used Craigslist to promote his sales.” Last night the 26th Precinct of the NYPD (Columbia’s precinct) and CU Public Safety caught Mizouchi outside Lerner and arrested him “after a brief chase.” Bizarro!

In other news, Rangel will officially stand trial on ethics violations after a possible settlement fell through. He is accused of violating 13 counts of House rules. Not good news for your adopted Congressional District, good old reliable #1-5.

Update, 4 PM: Another tipster sends along this photo of the suspect being arrested, and recounts what he saw of the incident: on College Walk at about 9:15 an undercover police car started flashing its lights for students to get out of the way. The car then did a U-turn and parked on Broadway and 115th, outside Lerner. When AH walked by the 115th gates, Mizouchi was pinned down by a plainclothes cop with his knee on the suspect. The suspect was then handcuffed. Another witness watched the chase and said Mizouchi looked like he was “flying” he was running so fast. As Mizouchi ran past Lerner, plainclothes cops ran out from multiple locations on campus. Mizouchi tripped and fell outside Lerner, where he was handcuffed. According to AH it was all over very fast (which makes sense, as Bwog was on the scene just a few minutes after the arrest), the suspect was whisked away in an undercover police car, and the scence was clear. Also mysterious: the suspect has a Japanese name, but he didn’t look Asian, according to AH and the photograph below. Curiouser and curiouser!

Photo by AH