University of Maryland police are investigating a case of vandalism after multiple cars were damaged in a parking lot near The Varsity apartment complex.
Officers responded to the lot on July 23 at 7 a.m. after receiving a report of multiple vehicles being vandalized in parking lot 11B, university police spokesperson Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas said.
University police believe that the crime occurred overnight between July 22 and July 23.
Ten vehicles were vandalized that night, and some items were reported missing from cars. The items that were stolen were mainly electronic devices and money, Hoaas said.
One victim, Nick Lobue, parked his car near the computer science building. When he came out the next day, he was surprised to see his car’s window had been smashed. The car next to his had a windshield wiper taken off.
“It looked like someone had thrown a jar at it or something,” the junior computer science major said.
Lobue mentioned that non-residents are a frequent sight at The Varsity and those individuals can sometimes become loud and rowdy, staying as late as 4 a.m.
“Nothing good happens at that time,” he said.
This isn’t the first case of vandalism Hoaas said she’s heard of in the area, though those cases fell outside of UMPD jurisdiction.
“To my understanding, there might have been other incidents off campus of breaking into cars and stealing property that were similar to this one,” Hoaas said.
