December has proven to be a difficult month to be a car on the University of Arizona campus. Some have been stolen and found themselves missing their owners, others have felt the searing agony of having their windows smashed or keyed. One was even lived in. As always, stay informed so you can stay prepared and stay safe.
Fraternity burgled during soccer game
On Dec. 9, 2025, the members of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity left their fraternity house to play a game of soccer. When they returned in the evening, they called the University of Arizona Police Department to report that several of their belongings had been stolen.
The list of items stolen includes two laptops, an Xbox One console and controller, a pair of AirPods, $500 in cash and a backpack. The total value of the items is at least $3400. Entry was gained to the fraternity house through the back door, which had been left unlocked.
An hour and a half before the burglary was reported, one of the laptops and the AirPods were pinged at an area a few blocks south of campus, but by this point, the items were deactivated and were no longer providing a current location.
Car subjected to politically-themed keying
On Dec. 9, 2025, a UA student reported finding his Honda Civic with the words “Biden Fam” keyed into all four passenger doors. The student’s car did not have any political stickers on it that may have provoked this.
Former President Joe Biden reportedly has no blood relation to the Honda Civic.
Three subsequent Jeep-related incidents aroused suspicion
On Dec. 4, 2025, a UA student parked her green Jeep Renegade Rubicon on the second level of South Stadium Parking Garage and returned late at night three days later to find it was gone. The car was last seen headed westbound on Euclid Avenue and Sixth Street at 3:46 a.m. The owner had the only key in her possession, yet there were no signs of a break-in in the garage.
On Dec. 9, 2025, a UA Parking and Transportation Services employee witnessed a man enter an unlocked Jeep Wrangler parked on the bottom floor of Main Gate Parking Garage. The car alarm activated, and the man fled the area. Officers located the man and questioned him about the incident. He admitted to entering the car but stated he did not take anything.
UAPD found him to be in violation of his exclusionary order from UA property, and he was arrested for burglary. As he was searched, he was found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia, which was added to his list of charges.
On Dec. 9, 2025, a UA student reported that she discovered that her car parked in the Sixth Street Parking Garage had been left running. A parking and transportation employee said that he saw the Jeep Wrangler running at 7:00 p.m. the day prior and saw it still running when he returned to work at 11:00 a.m. the next day.
When the owner returned, the car had by that point stopped due to running out of gas.
There was no sign of entry or damage on the vehicle, and the student had the only keys on her person. The student was unsure whether she had left the car running, but UAPD labeled this as suspicious activity due to the other two recent incidents targeting Jeeps.
Man harasses students in search of leftovers
On Dec. 22, 2025, at 3:00 p.m., two UA students were eating a late lunch in the McClelland Park lobby area where they worked. A man came up to them and talked to the pair of students for 40 minutes. The students stated that the man told them how much larger he was than them, and that if he really wanted to take their food, they wouldn’t be able to stop him.
By this point, the students had finished their food and left to return to their office, letting the man have the leftovers. They both went to use the restroom 20 minutes later but heard the man knock on the door of the restroom. After waiting 10 minutes, one student cracked the door and saw the man on his knees, thanking them for the food. The students quickly left and returned to their office.
Forty minutes later, the students called UAPD, but the man had left by then and officers were unable to find him. They described the man as being around 20 years old and wearing a gray sweatshirt with black pants.
DUI stop leads to discovery of drugs and firearms
Just after midnight on Dec. 31, 2025, officers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle they had seen fail-tailing onto Euclid Avenue from Speedway Boulevard at high speed. Officers found the driver to be both intoxicated and driving with a suspended license.
During a search of the vehicle, officers found dangerous drugs, paraphernalia and several firearms inside. The driver was transported to the Pima County Jail and booked for reckless driving, driving under the influence, criminal speeding and driving with an open container of alcohol.
University pickup truck stolen
On Jan. 5 at 7:45 a.m., a UA staff member found a UA-owned Ford F-250 outside the Resident Life Auxiliaries Services Building was missing and reported it stolen.
It was last seen in its parked spot on Jan. 2. There are no suspects or leads.
University SUV used as mobile home
On Dec. 21, 2025, a UA staff member reported finding a UA-owned Toyota 4-runner in a university parking lot. The driver’s window had been shattered and the ignition panel was damaged.
Inside, officers found items of clothing, food containers, cigarette butts and other personal items. Officers collected potential DNA evidence from the Toyota. A neighboring UA-owned Ford Explorer also had its driver-side mirror broken, but the doors were secure.
The Toyota was believed to have been parked there since November. As it could not be driven or secured, it was towed to a UA motor pool.
Dorm room burgled for cash
On Dec. 7, 2025, at 1:00 a.m., a UA student left his dorm room at Coronado Residence Hall to visit a friend and returned at 3:30 a.m. He had left the door to his room unlocked.
He did not notice until 10:30 a.m. that $80 was taken from his wallet and $30 from his desk while he was gone. UAPD attempted to see if any camera footage could be found.
Campus cars face a day of window-smashing
On Dec. 15, 2025, three vehicles were found with broken windows, yet in none of the incidents was an item identified as missing.
Two of these cars were on the second level of Park Avenue Parking Garage; one was a white Audi and the other a gray Subaru. UAPD contacted the owner of one vehicle, who said nothing of value was inside. The third car was a Toyota located in a parking lot south of Banner — University Medical Center. The owner said that nothing was missing.
Bike and scooter thefts
There was only one reported theft of a bike or scooter on Dec. 9, 2025, when a UA student reported her scooter stolen from the bike storage area of Likens Residence Hall. There was no damage observed in the storage area that would have indicated forced entry.
An additional attempted theft occurred on Dec. 15, 2025, when UAPD officers found a man taking the tires off a bike, which he admitted to trying to steal in order to sell for food money. The man was cited, released and given an exclusionary order from UA property.
