Unlocking the mystery

A University of Arizona Police Department officer responded to a report of a suspicious person at the Communications building at 6:28 p.m. on Sept. 17. According to the report, a man wearing a red shirt was carrying a set of keys and trying to use them to enter the building. While en route to the building, a police aide told the officer that she had seen a person matching that description walking northbound on Park Avenue toward Speedway Boulevard. The officer found the suspect at the Circle K located at the intersection.

When the officer approached the suspect, the man was compliant and gave the officer his name and age when asked. He also allowed the offcer to look at the key set he was carrying. The man told the officer that he had found the keys on the ground near Old Main earlier that day, and was trying to return them.

Initially, he told a woman nearby that he had found the keys, and she gave him the non-emergency phone number for UAPD. The man didn’t have a phone, and instead thought he might give the keys to a friend who lives in Coronado Residence Hall, but he decided he didn’t feel comfortable giving the keys to his friend. He told officers that he went to buildings around Old Main to see if the keys unlocked any rooms so he could either steal and sell items inside, or find a place to sleep, since he did not have a place to live.

By this time in the man’s story, another officer had arrived and was searching a backpack the man had with him. Inside, the officer found a white Apple MacBook, which he said he received from a friend as payment for marijuana, and planned on selling for money to feed his child. Officers advised the man that the laptop was stolen, and noted that the man did not seem surprised.

The man was arrested for third-degree burglary and second-degree trafficking of stolen property, and was transported to Pima County Jail.

The officer noted in the report that after returning to UAPD, he found a membership card on the key ring, confirming that the keys belonged to a female UA student.

Take now, buy later

A UAPD officer responded to the bookstore at 10:28 a.m. on Monday after an 18-year-old UA student was caught shoplifting. Before the officer arrived, the female student was taken into custody by the bookstore security. A bookstore employee claimed to have seen the student enter the store and walk around for about 10 minutes. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses from the display on the first floor and then continued to walk throughout the clothing section.

Before walking out of the store with the glasses, she continuously played with them as she walked and eventually sat down on a windowsill for a few minutes, while still playing with the glasses. The bookstore employee who witnessed the theft followed the student out of the store and asked if she still had the sunglasses. She admitted that she did and pulled them out of a pocket in her backpack. The price tag was no longer on the glasses at this time. Later, the price tag was found on the windowsill where she had been sitting, valuing the glasses at $14.99.

The student said that where she is from, South Carolina, stores allow customers to take items out of the store without paying for them and then return later to pay for the items taken. She said that her intention was to take the sunglasses, go to the ATM to withdraw money and then return to the bookstore to purchase the glasses. The student said she didn’t want to purchase the sunglasses with her credit card because then her parents would receive the bank statement.

The UAPD officer arrested the student for shoplifting and gave her a court date. She was then cited and released. The sunglasses were placed into evidence.

Seeing red

A UAPD officer responded to a hit and run at about 3:55 p.m. on Monday. When the officer arrived at UA Lot 2012 on Warren Avenue, he spoke with a senior library staff member who said that when she arrived to her car at 3:45 p.m. that afternoon she noticed it had been damaged. She had parked her car at 10:45 a.m. that morning.

On the rear passenger door, she found a scratch about 6 inches by 6 inches running through the middle of the door, marked with red paint. There was another scratch above her rear passenger tire about 8 inches long and 1 inch wide, also with red paint.

The employee said that she wanted to take part in any further criminal proceedings. Photos were taken at the scene.