Background: The University of Missouri campus in Columbus, Mo. (Google Maps). Inset: Maxwell Warren (Boone County Jail).
A student at the University of Missouri has been banned from the Missouri campus after police said he strangled another student for blocking him on Snapchat.
Maxwell Warren, 18, is being held without bond at Boone County Jail after he was arrested on Tuesday, charged with three counts of domestic assault and one count of burglary. According to a probable cause statement reviewed by Law&Crime, Warren allegedly barged into another student's dorm after they blocked him on Snapchat in late September. During the altercation, Warren allegedly put his hands around the student's neck and said, "What do you think you are doing? You need to add me back right now."
The student told police that they unblocked Warren on their Snapchat account, but it was not the end of their allegedly violent altercations.
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Police said that Warren went to the other student's residence hall the same day he discovered he was blocked, Sept. 26. When he showed up uninvited, the student opened the dorm room door a crack, and Warren allegedly forced his way inside. After the alleged strangulation, the student took photos of the "red mark" left on their neck.
Two days later, Warren expressed his regrets over the alleged strangulation in a direct message to the student on Instagram, saying, "I feel awful U deserve so much better."
Two days after that, during a conversation on Snapchat, the student confronted Warren about the incident, saying, "[Y]ou put your hands on me." Warren allegedly responded, "I would do it again, I f—ing hate you, I would gladly beat your a—."
About a month later, on Oct. 29, Warren made contact with the student again and went to the student's room; this time, with consent. The student told police that Warren "was possibly under the influence of a narcotic" and made sexual advances. When the student declined those advances and told Warren they "just wanted to sleep," Warren became "frustrated" and allegedly strangled the student again.
According to the probable cause statement, the student "briefly lost consciousness" and woke up with their "whole body twitching uncontrollably." The student told Warren to never contact them again.
In a second probable cause statement, officers were dispatched to a parking structure on the University of Missouri campus the same day, Oct. 29, after a witness reportedly saw Warren "push a female to the ground." When Warren was questioned by police, he claimed that the woman hit him first and "chased" him. Police said that surveillance video taken from the parking structure "did not support this claim."
What the video did show, according to police, was Warren pushing the woman down. A pickup truck then entered the frame, and someone from inside the truck intervened in the alleged altercation. The woman then left the scene in the truck.
Warren was charged with three counts of domestic assault, one of them causing serious physical injury, and one count of burglary. He is being held without bond at Boone County Jail until his next court date on Nov. 10. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 9.
Local ABC affiliate KMIZ reported that Warren has been banned from the University of Missouri campus. University spokesperson Christopher Ave stated, "Maxwell Warren is barred from the University of Missouri campus, classes, and other university activities pending further investigation into allegations surrounding the criminal charges against him. The university does not tolerate acts of violence and holds accountable anyone found to violate the law or university policies. If Warren is released from jail and attempts to enter Mizzou's campus, he is subject to arrest."