Virginia Tech freshman had encounter with police before assault rifle arrest

Incident happened more than three weeks before his arrest

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Before his arrest in late January, Virginia Tech police had at least two prior interactions with then-freshman Yunsong Zhao about a knife he had on campus.

Court documents filed Monday included the case details of a reported incident on Jan. 6, 2018 when Zhao had an illegal knife on campus.

At 5:40 p.m., Officer Micha Pasquarell with the Virginia Tech Police Department reported seeing a car improperly parked in the lot near the Graduate Life Center. 

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He approached the driver, Zhao, who told the officer he was waiting for a friend to head off-campus.

In the report, Pasquarell described Zhao as nervous and during their conversation, asked him if there were any weapons in his car.

As Zhao answered, "He glanced quickly toward the rear of the vehicle, and said no," according to Pasquarell's report.

Pasquarell could see what he believed to be the sheath of a large knife and when he asked Zhao about it, Pasquarell said the student appeared startled and quickly turned toward the knife and reached for it.

Pasquarell told Zhao twice not to reach for the knife, according to the report.

Zhao allowed Pasquarell to inspect the knife, which had a curved silver blade, which was sharpened on one side and Pasquarell estimated to be 5 to 6 inches long.

Zhao told Pasquarell that he kept the knife in his car, according to the report.

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Pasquarell explained to Zhao that he believed the blade violated the university's policy and asked him to stay while he checked with his supervisor, Sgt. Kendrah Cline.

Zhao asked to leave with his friend, who had arrived during the two men's conversation, and Pasquarell told him he was free to go as he wasn't being detained for criminal charges.

Cline told Pasquarell that she had personally talked with Zhao a few weeks earlier that he could not have that knife on campus and Zhao told her that he keeps the knife off-campus in a different vehicle, according to the report.

Zhao did not face any charges in connection with this incident.

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Later in January, Virginia Tech police arrested Zhao on felony weapons charges in relation to a different incident.

Zhao, 20, is now suing Virginia Tech and police, saying they violated his rights.

The court documents filed Monday also provided images of a Four Loko drink, a tactical bag, a knife, ammunition, a Four Loko drink found by police when they executed a search warrant on his car.