A student was asleep in her room on Oct. 13 when she woke up and heard a noise. The next morning she realized her iPhone and MacBook had been stolen in the middle of the night, according to police.
University Police arrested and charged Anthony Thomas, 20, of Washington, with first degree burglary and theft between $1,000 and $10,000 in conjunction with this crime.
Last year, a case like this may not have been solved, according to University Police Chief David Mitchell, but a decrease in on-campus crimes against people has allowed investigators to focus on property crimes, he said. This semester has seen only one crime against a person, compared to seven in the same time period last semester.
“Our workload has definitely shifted,” Mitchell said. “We prioritize crimes against persons over crimes against property, but while we have fewer crimes against a person, it allows our detectives to focus on the property crimes.”
So far this year, University Police have recorded 52 reported on-campus burglaries, seven of which have resulted in arrests. For the same time period last year, there were 79 burglaries and four arrests, spokesman Capt. Marc Limansky said, which is a 166 percent increase in arrests per burglary.
Recently, the department arrested and charged seven individuals in connection with on-campus thefts and burglaries that occurred between August and November of this year. In addition to Thomas, University Police arrested and charged Flor de Maria Gonzalez-Madrid, 47; Marybeth Wharton, 22; Daniel Christopher Lopez, 22; Brian Duruji, 19; and Digna Yanira Bonilla, 41.
Two are listed in the university’s student directory, but police could not confirm whether they are enrolled at this university.
“We’re lucky in a sense that we don’t have many serious crimes so we’re able to dedicate our time to solving these property crimes,” Limansky said. “Really, it’s very frustrating for people when their device gets stolen, so to be able to have a group of people like our investigators working on these cases, it’s great.”
Many of these crimes are solved because of advancing technologies, such as GPS tracking systems, Limansky said.
When an Android cell phone was left outside of a classroom in Glenn L. Martin Hall Oct. 12, its owner re-entered the building, realized it was missing and reported the incident. University Police used GPS tracking software to find the mobile device and arrested and charged Bonilla with theft under $1,000.
Even if an arrest is not made, some students said University Police are taking extra steps to attempt to solve similar crimes.
Senior business and economics major Lizzi Bollinger said she reported her stolen laptop to police in the final week of last semester. Although her property has not been found, she said a University Police officer followed up with her months after the theft.
“The officer called me to just do a follow-up check-in,” Bollinger said, adding that she was asked whether her computer was ever returned or found. “I thought that was a great effort from the department to check in with me. It was really nice, and I really appreciated it.”
Limansky said theft crimes, such as Bollinger’s, are generally difficult crimes to solve. So far this year, there have been 304 cases of reported thefts, 21 of which resulted in arrests, he said. This is a 43.8 percent decrease in arrests per theft from last year’s 358 reported thefts and 44 arrests in the same time period.
Mitchell added that the Security Operations Center — a control center that monitors more than 300 security cameras positioned around the campus and downtown College Park — has also been instrumental in helping track down criminals.
“What’s paying huge dividends for us is our Security Operations Center where we monitor our cameras,” Mitchell said. “That’s been a big help. We want the word to get out that if you come on this campus or anywhere in the vicinity of this campus, and we observe and record you committing an offense, frankly, we’re going to hunt you down. And in most cases, we’re going to arrest you.”
egan@umdbk.com
