Cars stolen from lots
Two cars recently have been reported stolen, one directly from campus and one from the College Crossing at National Apartments’ parking lot.
Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli informed the campus community of the incidents in an email sent Nov. 17.
The car theft at the College Crossing parking lot happened on Nov. 14 at approximately 11 p.m., according to freshman communication major Chris Harden, who is the car owner. He said did not notice the missing car until the following morning and filed a report with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Harden said that he was parked in the gravel lot and his car doors were locked.
Vitangeli said that College Crossing’s video surveillance was able to capture the car being taken, but at the time, she did not think they [IMPD] had been able to identify a suspect.
“It’s not easy to tell who it is or anything, but they show that the car pulled up, and people got out of the car, and people found a way to get in my car. They [IMPD] said it was possibly with a screwdriver,” Harden said. “One person got in and drove away.”
The reported car theft on campus occurred Nov. 17. According to the University of Indianapolis Police Department report, the car owner’s roommate saw a white male, approximately 5’10” tall wearing a white Colts hat and a tan jacket, enter the vehicle at approximately 3 p.m. and leave northbound in the University Apartments parking lot. The report was filed with patrol officer Bill Woollen.
Vitangeli’s email said that the cars being targeted are older cars. The car taken from the UIndy campus was a 1989 Buick Century.
Harden also drove an older car, and he said IMPD had some insight into his case.
“They haven’t found anything yet. Something they did tell me, though—I drove a ’91 Chevy Caprice, and there had been four other Chevy Caprices stolen within a one-mile radius of this area [College Crossing Apartments] within the previous four days [of his incident].”
According to the police report, the owner of the Buick believes that he had left his car unlocked.
Vitangeli offered safety advice for those parking on campus.
“In general, in terms of parking on campus, it’s important for people to be looking out for each other, making sure that they keep their car doors locked, making sure that valuables are not left out in the car. I think people just need to be looking out for suspicious activity and making sure they call campus police.”
Harden echoed those thoughts.
“I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Harden said. “I encourage everybody to make sure if they have an older car—there’s not much they can do—but make sure they don’t keep valuable things in their car. All my school stuff was in my car, my backpack and everything.”
Vitangeli said that the campus police will be doing extra patrols and they are going to try to monitor the parking lots. She also said that IPD regularly comes through campus and they will continue to do so; the south side officers come through campus on their shifts and also will be doing extra patrols. She also recommends that if students are by themselves and it’s late at night, they call campus police for an escort.
Vitangeli’s email said that if anyone notices suspicious activity in the parking lots or surrounding area of campus he or she should contact campus police at 317-788-3333.
