Five-finger discount backlash

A UA student was arrested for shoplifting and criminal damage on Tuesday.

A University of Arizona Police Department officer went to the UofA Bookstore at 3:37 p.m., where security had a shoplifter in custody. He met with a Loss Prevention team employee who said he was operating the surveillance camera when he noticed a man standing in the pen supply area of the store take a package of pens. According to the employee, the man then walked to the clothing area and stood in front of a clothing display as he glanced side to side. He was swinging his hands back and forth in front of him, and then put a pen in his pocket. He then started to walk out the front entrance of the bookstore.

The Loss Prevention employee went to the clothing display area where man had been standing and found a torn package of Pilot G2 pens on the floor. He was able to locate the man outside of the bookstore and asked if he knew why he was approaching him. The man said, “”Yes, I took the pen without paying for it.””

The man told the Loss Prevention employee he did not have identification, so he called UAPD since they could not properly identify him. The man then took out his Arizona driver’s license and CatCard.

The man said he came to the store to buy a pen. Once he got the pen he wanted, he realized he didn’t have the money to pay for it so he decided to take it. He added that he had two debit cards with zero balance and that his bursar’s account was closed.

The UAPD officer placed the man under arrest on charges of shoplifting and criminal damage. He was given his court date and information, cited and released.

Various valuables stolen from vehicle

An unknown person broke into a Jeep Wrangler in a UA lot and stole items from it on Tuesday, sometime between 8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.   

A UAPD officer went to the location at 11:14 p.m. that day and met with the owner of the car. The man explained that he found damage to the passenger door and showed the officer a damaged lock that was broken in order for the thief to get into the car.

The console lock and the air conditioning vents in the floorboard of the passenger’s seat were also damaged. The soft top of the jeep had been cut.

The owner of the vehicle said that he was missing an iPod, phone charger, FM transmitter and a stereo faceplate. The officer took fingerprints but no prints of evidentiary value were found. The man wishes to press charges if the suspect is found. The case has been connected to a similar case that occurred within the same time frame.

Vehicle’s plates, verbal ID not valid

A UAPD officer conducted a traffic stop on a car traveling near Sixth Street and First Avenue due to its suspended license plates on Tuesday at 9:22 a.m.

The driver of the vehicle identified himself verbally, and said his license was suspended. A records check confirmed that the suspension was mailed to the driver last January for failure to pay fines due to the Tucson City Court.

The vehicle was impounded.

Another bike, another victim

A mountain bike was stolen on Oct. 20, sometime between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. from the Student Union Memorial Center.

The owner of the bicycle, a UA student, reported his stolen bicycle to Tucson Police Department that day but received an email stating that the report would need to go through UAPD. He reported the incident to UAPD on Tuesday.

An officer spoke to him. The student had no suspect or witness information and does not know the serial number of the bicycle.