Student arrested after crashing professor’s car

By Mary-Lyn Buckley

An international graduate student was arrested on campus Friday after police said he was driving recklessly, was under the influence and was in the possession of drugs.

David Madjrouh, 27, was pulled from a brown Subaru SUV and arrested shortly before 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 8. He is facing charges for DUI, reckless driving and possession of marijuana, Lawrence Police said.

Along with police, five Public Safety officers and several members of Rider’s administrative team rushed to the scene after the vehicle was seen taking wild laps around campus. Police said Madjrouh eventually hit a curb near the Mail Services building, disabling his vehicle and deploying his airbags.

According to Public Safety, Madjrouh reached between 70 and 80 mph, which is four times the Lawrenceville campus speed limit.

“Our main concern is always for the safety of our students, faculty and staff,” Public Safety Officer James Flatley said. “We are grateful for the swift and professional assistance provided by the Lawrence Township Police Department. More importantly, we are extremely thankful that no one was injured.”

Sophomore education major Jordan Dobzanski said she was almost hit by the vehicle.

“I turned around and all I hear is everyone screaming my name, and I jumped out of the way,” Dobzanski said. “I’m relieved. If he hit me driving at the speed he was going, I would have been dead.”

“He was going so fast,” sophomore criminal justice major Kailee Harmstead said. “Everyone was just in shock to see him go that fast. When he went around the corner, his car nearly flipped. The first time, everyone was confused, but when he came around a second time, that’s when everyone started flipping out. We were saying, ‘We need to call the police.’ It was definitely a close call.”

A musical theater major told The Rider News that the car was borrowed from Associate Professor Miriam Mills of the theater department. The wrecked Subaru bore a faculty parking sticker, and Mills was at the scene Friday in tears.

After not responding to several phone calls and emails last week, Mills told a reporter on Sept. 12 she would not comment on the incident.

According to university records, Madjrouh is originally from Bascharage, Luxembourg and police said he currently resides on Roseberry Court in Lawrence Township. Local tax records show that Mills is the owner of the house which is listed on police reports as Madjrouh’s home address.

Madjrouh graduated magna cum laude in December 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in finance from the College of Business Administration. He is currently enrolled in fall classes in pursuit of his master’s.

University spokeswoman Kristine Brown confirmed that Madjrouh is still a student at Rider, and that the Office of Community Standards is reviewing his case.

Madjrouh appeared in court on Sept. 11 and is scheduled to appear before a judge again on Sept. 25, according to Lawrence Police Sgt. Joseph Lech.