The UC San Diego campus and surrounding area have been hit with a large string of burglaries between May 14 and May 16, the UC San Diego Police Department stated in an email to all students, staff, and faculty. The San Diego Police Department is investigating approximately 30 burglaries reported at apartment complexes near UCSD while the campus police are looking into multiple theft-related crimes in campus housing units and unlocked vehicles.
The apartments targeted in these alleged burglaries have been occupied and unlocked. While no additional information was provided on the crimes under investigation by SDPD, the campus police have sent out three community alert bulletins describing two failed and one successful burglary attempts occurring on May 13 through May 15.
The first incident occurred at 5 p.m. on May 13 at the Mesa Nueva graduate apartments, although it was not reported to campus police until May 14 at 11:57 a.m. The individual attempting to break in removed the screen to the living room window and was preparing to enter, but he was interrupted by the apartment residents and fled. According to the reporting party, the suspect is a male approximately 5’9” to 5’10” in height and was dressed in light gray sweatpants and a dark gray sweatshirt. The race and hair color are unknown.
Occurring at the Sixth College apartments, the second alleged attempted burglary took place at 5:10 a.m. on May 14. The suspect was similarly caught trying to enter the apartment through the living room window, but the residents of the apartment were not able to see the suspect clearly enough to note any identifying features.
Two other instances of theft-related crime appear on the police logs for Sixth College on May 14: one report of a stolen backpack and another of clothes being taken from a laundry machine.
Although the nature of the alleged crime was similar at both the Sixth College and Mesa Nueva apartments, campus police is not yet certain that the two attempted burglaries were committed by the same suspect.
“It’s hard to say,” Detective Mike Williams told the UCSD Guardian. “It’s the same M.O., but it’s in two different parts of campus.”
The most recent burglary reported in a campuswide email was at the La Jolla Del Sol apartments at 6:30 p.m. on May 15. According to the statement on the supposed crime, the victim finished her shower to find that an unknown woman was in her apartment. Listed as a 30- to 35-year-old white or Latina adult, the female suspect stole a black backpack, laptop, cellphone, and purse which totaled $2,226 in value. The woman was also described as thin, approximately 5’5” in height, and wearing dark clothes.
According to the police logs, two vehicles were also burglarized at the La Jolla Del Sol apartments on May 15, and patio furniture was stolen from one of the Central Mesa apartments.
None of the suspects have been identified, and an arrest has not been made. The investigation is still in progress. Those with any information are encouraged to contact campus police at (858) 534-4357.
