String of burglaries in Davis
A string of burglaries close to the UC Davis campus have occurred over the last few weeks. Students are now advised to make sure they lock their windows and doors due to these recent crimes of opportunity.
“There were three burglaries on September 7 and there was a crime alert on September 15 in the morning,” said Andy Fell, the public information representative for the UC Davis Police Department. “On September 7, there had also been similar break-ins and reports. All these times involved unlocked doors or windows. Stolen items included laptops or cell phones.”
Joseph Farrow, the UC Davis police chief, noted the areas where the burglaries happened.
“There’s 400 Parkway Circle — where the frat houses are — there’s Russell Park [and] there’s West Village,” Farrow said. “West Village is spread out a little bit, so they’re not in the same general area.”
The crimes didn’t just happen where people lived, there was also a reported incidence in a parking structure.
“Saturday (Sept. 8), someone smashed a window in a car to steal a laptop in the South Entry Parking Structure, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.,” police said, according to UC Davis News Briefs.
Currently, there are no suspects, but there has been increased patrol in the Russell Park area. Property managers will also distribute information to residents.
“The only identification that we have was a possible male wearing all dark clothing, wearing a hoodie,” Farrow said. “One common thing was that they didn’t had to pry anything open — they didn’t need a key [and] they didn’t do anything. All they did was check the door and it opened. They took what they could see in the common area, and then they were gone very quickly.”
As a precaution, Fell reminded students to keep all access closed to burglars.
“We remind people to keep doors and windows locked even when they are asleep to reduce access to burglars,” Fell said.
The theme with these burglaries was that tenants left their homes opened for perpetrators to enter without force.
“They’re all burglaries and they’re late at night,” Farrow said. “All these are unsecured doors, like Russell Park and West village — the laptops were left in the common area. They merely walk into open doors into the common area, and they take what they can. The laptops are the most expensive item and that’s what they go for.”
Farrow also indicated that the residents were at home when the crimes happened.
“They’re in the private area and the theft occurs in the common area,” Farrow said.
As another general precaution, Fell wants to inform others to be more aware of entrapments.
“There has been a spate of emails claiming to have obtained their contact information from the Internship and Career Center and offering to recruit students for jobs,” Fell said. “This is not true and students should not respond. These jobs are not listed with the Internship and Career Center, and UC Davis does not give out email addresses of students to third parties.”
Written by: Stella Tran — city@theaggie.org
