craaazzzyy
This headline just made the front page of my school newspaper:
Felon lived with Fluor residents
The Department of Public Safety escorted an ex-felon pretending to be a USC student off campus Saturday evening after a group of students uncovered his false identity, according to several of the person's close friends and acquaintances. The man, who used the name Gianluca Velissariou while at USC, claimed to be a biological services major on a track scholarship who lived in Birnkrant Residential College.
DPS declined to comment.
He told students he was an 18-year-old spring admit transfer student from a Catholic school in Hyattsville, Md., just outside Washington, D.C.
The individual's real name is Kenneth Leon Foster, and he is 22, said his best friend at USC Travis Lacour, a freshman majoring in business administration who lives on the fifth floor of Fluor Tower.
Foster has a past criminal record.
In 2003, he was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle at the University of North Carolina, according to a press release by the UNC Crime Stoppers Program.
He served 10 months in a North Carolina prison, Lacour said.
Suspicions led USC acquaintances of Foster to perform a Google search on his sister's name, whom Foster had previously mentioned.
Foster had told his friends his sister's real name.
The Google search came up with a press release from the University of North Carolina, where he had stolen the car.
Students recognized the attached mug shot.
Foster also had used the alias of Kennedy Velissariou in North Carolina.
"When I found out I was surprised - an out-of-body experience," Lacour said.
When the students realized Foster was not enrolled at USC, they went to the DPS station and filed a report. DPS then escorted Foster off campus.
DPS did not arrest Foster because he had not committed a crime while at USC.
Students said they were suspicious of Foster's intentions.
"He wasn't scamming yet, but he was planning on it," Lacour said.
Since the second day of the spring semester, he befriended students on the fifth floor of Fluor Tower, called Somerville Place, a special-interest floor for freshmen interested in learning about black culture.
"He was actually one of my good friends," Lacour said. "He's a very personable guy."
Lacour said he planned to room with Foster next year with one of their other close friends.
At first, students had no reason to suspect that Foster was not a student.
"He knows so many people at this school, it's ridiculous," said Alisha Hollis, a freshman majoring in accounting who lives in Cardinal Gardens. "If a friend introduces you to someone, you assume that person is cool."
But some students saw him in a different light.
"He was one of those people that people just tolerate," said Daedra Staten, an undeclared freshman who lives in Cardinal Gardens. "He was kind of creepy."
Students described the Somerville Place atmosphere as very open.
It was not out of place for a friend to stay for several nights in a suite.
Foster claimed he had trouble with his roommate in Birnkrant, so he stayed with friends in Fluor Tower almost every night, Hollis said.
Several circumstances led Foster's acquaintances to look into his background.
They searched the USC student directory online but came up with nothing, Hollis said.
Foster claimed to live in Birnkrant, but Staten said the resident adviser for the floor he supposedly lived on did not know him.
While Foster claimed to be on a track scholarship, students did not find records of him running track in high school.
He is not listed on the USC track team roster, but he would attend some practices as a spectator to avoid suspicion, Staten said.
"You have to make it believable that you're really a student," Hollis said.
Foster would walk around campus with a backpack, attend classes, take midterms, write papers and visit the library to build the façade.
An atmosphere of fear still hangs over the students who live in Somerville Place.
"Right now it's just shock, basically. It's hard for you to trust anybody." Hollis said.
"It's like something from a movie."
CRAZINESS!!! I live in Fluor Tower...sooo wierd. Yea he seemed nice, and Travis is really cool so this is just bizarre. Gotta love South Central!!
Anyways, Spring break is sooN and everything is goin well here!!! hooray!!! Hope everything is awesome for everyone, love u and miss u all!!!
Felon lived with Fluor residents
The Department of Public Safety escorted an ex-felon pretending to be a USC student off campus Saturday evening after a group of students uncovered his false identity, according to several of the person's close friends and acquaintances. The man, who used the name Gianluca Velissariou while at USC, claimed to be a biological services major on a track scholarship who lived in Birnkrant Residential College.
DPS declined to comment.
He told students he was an 18-year-old spring admit transfer student from a Catholic school in Hyattsville, Md., just outside Washington, D.C.
The individual's real name is Kenneth Leon Foster, and he is 22, said his best friend at USC Travis Lacour, a freshman majoring in business administration who lives on the fifth floor of Fluor Tower.
Foster has a past criminal record.
In 2003, he was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle at the University of North Carolina, according to a press release by the UNC Crime Stoppers Program.
He served 10 months in a North Carolina prison, Lacour said.
Suspicions led USC acquaintances of Foster to perform a Google search on his sister's name, whom Foster had previously mentioned.
Foster had told his friends his sister's real name.
The Google search came up with a press release from the University of North Carolina, where he had stolen the car.
Students recognized the attached mug shot.
Foster also had used the alias of Kennedy Velissariou in North Carolina.
"When I found out I was surprised - an out-of-body experience," Lacour said.
When the students realized Foster was not enrolled at USC, they went to the DPS station and filed a report. DPS then escorted Foster off campus.
DPS did not arrest Foster because he had not committed a crime while at USC.
Students said they were suspicious of Foster's intentions.
"He wasn't scamming yet, but he was planning on it," Lacour said.
Since the second day of the spring semester, he befriended students on the fifth floor of Fluor Tower, called Somerville Place, a special-interest floor for freshmen interested in learning about black culture.
"He was actually one of my good friends," Lacour said. "He's a very personable guy."
Lacour said he planned to room with Foster next year with one of their other close friends.
At first, students had no reason to suspect that Foster was not a student.
"He knows so many people at this school, it's ridiculous," said Alisha Hollis, a freshman majoring in accounting who lives in Cardinal Gardens. "If a friend introduces you to someone, you assume that person is cool."
But some students saw him in a different light.
"He was one of those people that people just tolerate," said Daedra Staten, an undeclared freshman who lives in Cardinal Gardens. "He was kind of creepy."
Students described the Somerville Place atmosphere as very open.
It was not out of place for a friend to stay for several nights in a suite.
Foster claimed he had trouble with his roommate in Birnkrant, so he stayed with friends in Fluor Tower almost every night, Hollis said.
Several circumstances led Foster's acquaintances to look into his background.
They searched the USC student directory online but came up with nothing, Hollis said.
Foster claimed to live in Birnkrant, but Staten said the resident adviser for the floor he supposedly lived on did not know him.
While Foster claimed to be on a track scholarship, students did not find records of him running track in high school.
He is not listed on the USC track team roster, but he would attend some practices as a spectator to avoid suspicion, Staten said.
"You have to make it believable that you're really a student," Hollis said.
Foster would walk around campus with a backpack, attend classes, take midterms, write papers and visit the library to build the façade.
An atmosphere of fear still hangs over the students who live in Somerville Place.
"Right now it's just shock, basically. It's hard for you to trust anybody." Hollis said.
"It's like something from a movie."
CRAZINESS!!! I live in Fluor Tower...sooo wierd. Yea he seemed nice, and Travis is really cool so this is just bizarre. Gotta love South Central!!
Anyways, Spring break is sooN and everything is goin well here!!! hooray!!! Hope everything is awesome for everyone, love u and miss u all!!!