Batter up

A non-UA affiliated individual was accused of stealing a baseball bat from the A-Store at Downtown on Feb. 26 at approximately 3:03 p.m. 

University of Arizona Police Department officers arrived with a store employee, who pointed to a black male wearing a baseball cap and a gray hoodie. He said, “That’s the guy.” 

One officer attempted to speak with the suspect across the street on the northwest quad. According to the officer, the individual was walking really fast and trying to avoid him. He walked around the corner of a nearby building to lose sight of the officer. The officer ran and tried to catch up to him, but he started running away from him. The officer shouted, “Police, stop running!” 

The suspect was ordered to drop the bat and put his hands up. He was then handcuffed and escorted back to the store on foot. A check showed that he had been arrested for shoplifting at the Student Union Memorial Center in the past and was known to grab police officers’ duty weapons. 

The employee said the man entered the store wearing a hoodie over his head. He walked around the store, and, at some point picked up a baseball bat and dropped another one on the floor. He left the store and the employee saw him removing the price tag off a bat outside through the glass window. The employee knew he didn’t pay for the bat because he was the only one working at the time and the man never came to the register. 

The man was cited and released on charges of shoplifting and was served with a six-month UA Exclusionary Order. The bat was returned to the store, and a store video of the incident was given to police. 

Swiper, no swiping!

A UA student reported someone being inside his car and stealing his personal items on Feb. 26.

According to the student, he parked his 2005 blue Subaru station wagon in Parking Lot 1157 on 1225 E. Helen St. at approximately 10 a.m. on Feb. 25. He returned to his vehicle the next day at approximately 12:30 a.m. to find the remnants of someone going through his vehicle without permission. 

The man said his glove box and center console were open, and his gym bag, which was always stored in the rear storage compartment of the station wagon, was missing. He claimed that there was no damage to his vehicle, and that it was unlocked when the incident occurred. 

Later, the individual said he returned to the area around 9 a.m. to look for his gym bag. He ended up finding the bag on the ground near Mountain Avenue and Mabel Street, undamaged. The only thing missing from it was a Polar heart-rate monitor worth about $100.

The man was mailed his victim rights form and given a case number to help with the judicial proceedings.