‘I have plenty’

A UA student was arrested for shoplifting at the UA Bookstore on Oct. 23.

A University of Arizona Police Department officer was dispatched to the bookstore around 2 p.m. Upon arrival, the officer met with a loss prevention staff member who said he had observed a man via video surveillance take a UA baseball jersey off its hanger and put it in his backpack.

The loss prevention officer said the man then walked out of the front door of the bookstore. He stopped the man outside the UA Mall and brought him back to the bookstore to wait for officers to arrive.

The officer identified the man by his CatCard, and was also provided with his date of birth and state of residence. The officer used this information to conduct a records check on the individual.

The male student appeared nervous and told the officer he had never been in legal trouble before. The man was read his Miranda rights and was asked if he understood them; he said yes.

The officer then asked for the male student’s account of what had happened. He told the officer he had previously owned the same type of jersey but that it had been stolen at a party.

The officer asked him if he had removed the jersey from the hanger and placed it in his backpack, which the male student said he did. The officer also asked the individual if he left the store with the jersey in his backpack, and the male student again said he did.

The officer then asked him if he had enough money to pay for the jersey, and he said, “Yeah, I have plenty of money.”

The individual was then cited and released for shoplifting. He was referred to the Dean of Students Office for a code of conduct violation.

Backpacking heat

A UA student reported the theft of his backpack containing a loaded handgun on Oct. 23.

A UAPD officer arrived on the scene and made contact with the reporting party. The reporting party informed the officer he locked his bike to the bike racks outside of the Henry Koffler building earlier in the day. He also informed the officer that he had also locked his backpack to his bike.

The individual described the backpack for the officer and said there were two handles on the bag that he would place a padlock through and lock onto his bike lock. He said that without the key to the padlock, the backpack would have had to been cut off the lock.

The individual told the officer the backpack contained various items, including clothing, first-aid materials, assorted tools and a loaded handgun. He told the officer the gun carried six bullets in the magazine. He said there were six hollow point bullets in the magazine and one in the chamber, totaling seven rounds.

The individual told the officer that around 3:30 p.m., the backpack was still locked to the bike. However, upon his return at 9 p.m., the backpack was missing.

He told the officer he did not bring the handgun to school on a daily basis; he carried it off campus and had forgotten to take it out of his backpack from the day before.

He explained he realized the gun was still in his backpack after arriving on campus, and because he thought it was a criminal offense to bring firearms into school buildings, he decided to leave it in his backpack locked to his bicycle.

A Student Code of Conduct was filled out and sent to the Dean of Students Office.