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University police bombarded with campus crime
BY SARA JOCHEMS
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
iISSUE: 78/23
From underage consumption and unpaid parking tickets to theft, university police have been busy over the past couple of weeks. “Over the weekend, we handed out 21 underage consumption tickets,” said Lt. Anne Peterson of university police. “Seventeen were handed out on Friday, Feb. 29 and four on Saturday, March 1.”
Peterson said that one of the 17 on Feb. 29 resulted in the suspect going to jail. “He was a non-student who was in university housing,” Peterson said. “Besides his underage consumption, he was also given a ticket for disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process.”
There were also the four laptop computers that were stolen out of the study lounge in the Multicultural Center on Feb. 14 , and have not been recovered. “Two of the students had serial numbers for their laptops,” Peterson said. “It is important to get that information because we enter the serial number into the database and if the computers are pawned, they will show up stolen. “Those four computers combined cost an estimated $6,400, and that is such a loss for something that can easily be avoided,” Peterson said.
Parking on campus has been more costly for a couple of individuals who didn’t pay their parking tickets. “Parking services notified us that two individuals were constantly violating parking regulations and that if we [university police] see it, they were to be towed,” Peterson said. Peterson explained that on Feb. 22, university police spotted the car and had it impounded. Five days later, with proof of insurance and an agreement plan on how he was going to pay off the tickets he disregarded, the suspect got his car back. “I am not sure on the exact amount, but he owed the collector company almost $5,000,” Peterson said.
According to Peterson, the other individual had his car impounded on Feb. 28 and got it back the next day with his proof of insurance and plan for the collector company. “Again, I am not quite sure, but his amount was around $1,200,” she said.
A 23-year-old male stole food from the Dining Center (DC) on Feb. 28. According to Peterson, he was wearing a UMD service shirt but was not an employee. The suspect told university police, “UMD wastes a lot of food every day, so I thought it wouldn’t be a problem.” Peterson wanted to inform others that they have been updating their Web site and that it is possible to see stilled shots of suspicious activity. “Currently on the site, there are two stilled shots of an individual who entered the men’s locker room in the Sports and Health Center and came out with stolen items,” Peterson said. “If you recognize this man, please contact university police.”
