University police are looking for two people who are linked to a number of thefts from campus dining halls in March.
Security tapes filmed a man and a woman allegedly stealing laptops and backpacks from dining halls three separate times during the weekend before 10th week of winter quarter, said UCPD detective Andrew Ikeda.
UCPD does not know if the man or woman are affiliated with UCLA, Ikeda said. He said police think the pair did not steal after that weekend because of finals week and spring break.
While there were no reported thefts last week, police anticipate they will return to the dining halls to steal, Ikeda said.
“Suspects habitually come back because they know (students leave backpacks out),” he said.
On March 9 at around 6 p.m., the man approached a student outside of the De Neve dining hall, told the student he had forgotten his BruinCard, and asked the student if he could swipe him into the dining hall, according to a police report released Friday. The student agreed, thinking the man was also a student.
Later, the man left the dining hall, and he was caught on tape looking through multiple bags on the rack and allegedly stealing one backpack, according to the report.
The man was also caught on tape allegedly stealing a laptop from a student’s backpack at De Neve dining hall the following day.
On March 12, both the man and woman were seen outside the Hedrick dining hall, said Kari Brown, a Hedrick Hall assistant manager.
The woman said she was the mother of the man, and she was waiting for him to leave the dining hall, Brown said. UCPD does not know if the woman is actually the man’s mother, Ikeda said.
“I became suspicious because they were (acting) antsy,” Brown said.
The man then pulled a backpack off a Hedrick Hall rack, she said. A Hedrick Hall area manager approached the man, and the man said the backpack was his own.
A student, however, later reported to Brown that her backpack was stolen, Brown said.
Jeremy Moon, a first-year physiological science student, said he was in a hurry to eat dinner at De Neve on March 9, and left his backpack on the rack. He said he wasn’t worried about leaving it on the racks, because he thought the security cameras would deter anybody from stealing.
When he left dinner, his backpack and laptop, which contained all his notes, were stolen, he said. Because it was right before finals, Moon had to borrow notes from classmates to study for his exams, he said.
He said he could have avoided the situation by not leaving his backpack on the rack, and he hopes police catch the person who stole his belongings soon.
“I never use the racks anymore,” Moon said. “Even if I don’t have my laptop with me, I put everything right in the locker, every meal.”
Ikeda said the dining halls are an easy target for theft with little chances of getting caught, because there are many students who leave their bags on the racks.
The man is described in the report as white, 18- to 24-years-old and 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 4 inches with dark hair. He was seen on the security tapes wearing a dark sweatshirt with white lettering, a black polo shirt, blue plaid shorts, sunglasses and dark shoes.
The woman is white, 40- to 50-years-old and 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 6 inches with blonde hair, according to the report. She was seen on the security tapes wearing a blue or gray shirt and jeans.
Ikeda said students should keep an eye out for people who are waiting in the dining hall lobby by themselves, holding a phone but not talking to anybody, looking through multiple bags, or pacing back and forth between the backpack rack. If students see anything suspicious, they should contact police.
To avoid having personal items stolen, police recommend students not leave valuables on the dining hall racks, and should instead use the lockers or leave items in their rooms.
Anyone with information regarding these thefts should call UPCD at (310) 825-1491.