Suspect arrested for stealing purse and car at LCC
LCC Public Safety officers arrested this individual Jan. 7 for stealing an LCC employee’s purse from the TLC Building and proceeding to steal her car from Lot W. (Photo courtesy of Rodney Bahl)
An individual allegedly stole an LCC employee’s purse from an unlocked office in the TLC Building; then stole her car from Lot W Jan. 3.
LCC Public Safety officers arrested the individual Jan. 7 and cited him for trespassing. Further charges are pending.
According to LCC Police Sgt. Rodney Bahl, the suspect, a dark-skinned male, is believed to be responsible for a purse theft in December 2012 because he was seen in the building where the purse was stolen. The suspect does not work at LCC and is not a student, Bahl added.
“What he seemed to be doing is he would just wander around campus, walk into random offices … and find whatever he wanted to take,” Bahl said. “After the first theft, people started calling us and saying they had someone up in their office area who didn’t belong, and by the time we got there, he was long gone.”
As for the second purse theft, Public Safety was able to find him in the hallway with the victim’s purse with the help of some newly installed cameras.
“The employee, at the time, didn’t know anything had been stolen from her office,” Bahl said. “(The suspect) had a tendency to use the TLC Building and his original theft from December was on the third floor. So the employees on the third floor saw him and they called us in.”
After reviewing surveillance footage, Public Safety officials saw him walk into the restroom with the purse and emerge without it. When officers arrived, they found the purse in the garbage.
When the suspect was arrested four days later, he still had the victim’s car keys on him.
Unfortunately, the car has yet to be recovered and the suspect is not talking to the police whatsoever, according to Bahl. A warrant has been authorized for the purse larceny, but the warrant for the stolen vehicle is pending the recovery of the car.
The suspect was released pending further investigation by the prosecutor.
“Larcenies are a continuous problem on a campus,” Bahl said. “You have so many people down here with their personal belongings, college textbooks, backpacks and computers. The most common type of theft we have is unattended property.”
Bahl recommended students and faculty lock up their property if possible and write their names in their textbooks. That way if the book is stolen and sold to a bookstore such as Gibson’s, Public Safety can easily recover it for the victim.
Students who see this individual (pictured above) on LCC campus should immediately call Public Safety at 517-483-1800.
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