The picture painted of senior Bryce Dejean-Jones’ behavior by his neighbor illustrates a long-standing pattern of disrespect. 

Matt White, a junior in software engineering and former ISU wrestler, has lived next door to Dejean-Jones since the beginning of the semester.

“I have been having issues with them for the last four months,” White said. “It has been a bunch of noise complaints, defacing property in the hallway, leaving their trash out there and being disrespectful to everyone who has ever tried to confront them about this.”

White said he has called the police over a dozen times to complain. The most recent call led to Dejean-Jones’ arrest in the early morning hours of Dec. 11.

“When the door was opened, the officers could smell burnt marijuana coming from inside the apartment, so they got a search warrant and ended up finding marijuana in the apartment,” said Geoff Huff, investigations commander and public information officer for the Ames Police Department. “At that time of day, it is time to be quiet.”

Dejean-Jones was arrested on three charges, including a nuisance party violation and a noise ordinance violation, both of which are simple misdemeanors. 

The third charge was “hosting a drug house” or “gathering where marijuana is used.” That charge is a serious misdemeanor on par with possession of marijuana in terms of the penalties offenders typically draw, but it has since been dropped, Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes said.

A judge made the determination that there was not probable cause to charge Dejean-Jones with “hosting a drug house,” but Holmes said that a charge could be refiled later if more evidence is obtained. 

“Everything is fact-specific and fact-driven,” Holmes said. “We have to have some proof to establish that a person did what is alleged.”

Huff said Ames Police is working with the county attorney’s office to determine whether such evidence exists.

The trial date for the two remaining charges will be scheduled Dec. 16.

Ames Police were called to Dejean-Jones’ apartment at 1221 Mayfield Drive, Apartment 310 between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Dec. 11.

Huff confirmed White’s claim that it is not the first time police have been contacted to quell the ruckus in Dejean-Jones’ residence.

“We’ve been working with the residents out at this apartment building and the coaches and everyone else because we have been out there more than five times for similar problems of loud noise,” Huff said. “So we have been working with all these folks trying to figure out a way they could all live together and not disturb each other.”

White provided the details of the meeting to which Huff alluded. White said the participants were himself, Officer Eric Snyder of the Ames Police Department, Dejean-Jones, his roommate, redshirt junior Abdel Nader, and ISU men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg.

“We came to an agreement that no more noise would happen,” White said. “The trash in the hallway would stop, being disrespectful would stop, the bass would be turned off during the week and they could have it on during the weekends. At my discretion I could text them and tell them it was getting too loud.”

White said the meeting did not produce the desired results.

“They did not follow that, they continued to do the same things,” White said. “I would text them, they would respond for a couple weeks and then they would stop responding. Then the cops would get back involved and that led to last night.”

White said Hoiberg was very strict and direct with Dejean-Jones about his expectations for the senior transfer from UNLV and had a similar message for Nader. In White’s words, Hoiberg “…did everything that a coach should have been doing.”

White described the behavior of Dejean-Jones and Nader in detail, and explained why he could take it no longer.

“They outright leave their trash out in the hallways and there was one morning I came home and the trash was littered all over the hallway,” White said. “There is puke in the hallways and every smell that comes into the hallway in this building has been linked to their unit. [There are] parties at all hours of the night, all days of the week. Last night specifically, I think it was just them screaming at each other playing video games at 4 a.m.”

Noise, garbage and smells, however, are far from the only concern to White, who lives one door down from Dejean-Jones.

White described a particularly vulgar incident that happened recently.

“I came home one day and I noticed there was a note on their door,” White said. “Someone else posted it, it was not me. Someone wrote them a nice handwritten letter that said this is what you guys are doing; we do not appreciate it. We would like it if you guys showed more respect.

A couple hours later that note was on my door with the words ‘suck my [expletive]’ written on it because they thought I did it. I shrugged it off, put it back on their door and later that night they came pounding on my door with the letter. They were drunk and fights almost happened that night.”

White said he has felt physically threatened before but does not believe that Dejean-Jones or his roommate will pursue physical violence.

“I do not feel like they are going to try and do anything physical towards me, but when my mom and friends come over, nobody likes being here,” White said.

A person inside Dejean-Jones’ and Nader’s apartment did not open the door and declined to comment.