A Saint Louis University student was arrested early Sunday morning after breaking into a vehicle on the Fordham parking lot and removing a customized stereo.
A Department of Public Safety surveillance team observed the student and one other subject looking into vehicles parked on the south side of the parking lot. The two subjects then proceeded to the north side of the lot, where the team observed the subjects breaking into the passenger door of the vehicle at approximately 2 a.m.
The officers observed the subjects removing the stereo from the vehicle. When one of the members of the surveillance team approached them, the suspects fled into Reinert Hall past the security desk with the stereo still in their possession.
One of the subjects, the SLU student, was identified and arrested by the patrolling DPS officers. The student was turned over to the St. Louis City Police Department and charged with stealing under $750.
The second subject, a visitor to the University, fled the area. An arrest order has been filed for the subject.
One Reinert resident said that the visitor had already been placed on the University restricted list but had been seen several times in the building during the past few weeks.
The vehicle belonged to a visiting student from the University of Missouri-St. Louis who was notified of the incident.
Director of Public Safety Jack Titone said that the second subject who had fled the scene was the cousin of the student who was arrested. A “wanted” notice for the cousin has been put on law enforcement computers.
Titone said that regardless of the fact that visitors may be relatives or friends, all SLU students should know the whereabouts of their guests.
“You have to be responsible for guests,” Titone said. “Anybody can walk into a residence hall and into any student’s room. Accompanying guests is a way of being respectful of the belongings of others.”
Assistant Director of Public Safety Rick Younger spoke about the responses DPS has taken to counter such criminal actions.
“In terms of preventative measures, we’ve tried to take a proactive approach,” said assistant director of public safety Rick Younger. Younger said that the sole duty of one designated patrol car is to constantly check all parking lots.
Younger also said that continuous surveillance is another way to alleviate any incidents. “Surveillance units monitor all activity and determine whether the person is acting in a suspicious manner,” Younger said.
In another auto-related incident, a student’s car was discovered stolen on Monday afternoon. The car was parked in the Holy Cross parking lot near DeMattias Hall.
The incident marks only the second time in 1999 that automobile theft has occurred on SLU property. The first incident occurred on the Fordham parking lot, and the vehicle was later recovered.
According to a DPS report on SLU’s eight-year crime trend, auto theft has decreased drastically. In 1992, a total of 42 reported auto thefts occurred, and the number has decreased significantly since then.
“Two is still two too many,” Titone said. “But the numbers speak for themselves.”
