David Adewumi Waives Preliminary Hearing, Faces Additional Vandalism Charge
Former student leader and entrepreneur David Adewumi, who faces stalking and harassment charges, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Although commonly waived, a preliminary hearing is the first time a defendant is able to answer to his charges and allows the judge to determine whether there is enough evidence for the case to head to trial.
The 25-year-old has been held at the Centre County Correctional Facility for three weeks on $50,000 bail. As of publishing time, he is still being detained.
Adewumi’s arrest comes from a three-month, multi-agency investigation after a 17-year-old female State College High School student told her principal she felt “unsafe” because Adewumi repeatedly showed up at school. He tried to continue the relationship even after the girl was granted a protection-from-abuse order against Adewumi in May.
Police say Adewumi showed up at the girl’s bus stop at one point wearing sunglasses and a hoodie to hide his appearance. He saw the girl hug a male friend and eventually approached the girl about the casual contact. He allegedly blocked her four separate times when she tried to get away. He also allegedly continued to send the girl “relentless” text messages after the relationship was cut off.
Additional charges have been filed against Adewumi since he was admitted to the correctional facility on July 18. He was charged with a misdemeanor count of institutional vandalism and a summary count of criminal mischief.
According to The Centre Daily Times, police are accusing Adewumi of intentionally breaking the sprinkler head in his cell, which caused almost an inch of flooding in his unit. A corrections officer saw Adewumi tampering with the sprinkler in his cell. When told to stop, Adewumi stood on his toilet smiling at the officer but said nothing, according to the officer’s report.
Adewumi is still listed in the Penn State directory as a student and has been involved in the Penn State community for much the past decade. He ran for UPUA president twice — in 2010 and 2011 — and lost by huge margins each time.
He took time off from Penn State in 2011 and headed to California to develop the OneSchool app, even securing $750,000 seed funding. He has since returned to Penn State to finish his Spanish degree.
Adewumi is scheduled to have a formal arraignment at 2 p.m. on September 4.
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