Theft in a Classroom

Classrooms at CSLUB are no longer safe for personal belongings, at least not for one student.  On March 22, a Student reported his Apple Macbook Pro stolen.  The Labtop valued at $400 was left in a bag on the side of a  desk in room 105 of the Fine Arts Building and was taken between 3:40 pm and 3:50 pm.  Captain Solorzano said that the reporting party "did not give anyone permission to take his labtop." 

This is what the stolen property looks like.  Photo by Cesar Mondragon

The student did manage to see a suspicious male leaving as he was going back to retrieve his bag.  He describes him as being:

                             -An Asian male
                             -Early twenties
                             -About 5'6
                             -Medium Build
                             -Short Black Hair

If you have any information regarding this case, you should definitely contact the campus police

Bikes Gone Missing

A series of bike thefts have been reported throughout campus over the past week.  On March 21, between the hours of 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm a student reported his bicycle stolen.  The bike, which is a red, white, and black Trek, model 1.1 and valued at an estimated $850, was left at the North Side Bike Rack located at the SSP A Building locked with a cable lock.  When the student came back, the bike was gone and only the broken lock remained.  "It doesn't even come to mind while I'm locking up my bike" said Mike Reyes a bike owner.  "I'm gonna have to be more careful now."  No arrests have been made.

These bikes are safe, for now......   Photo taken by Cesar Mondragon

Two other bicycles were reported stolen on March 24.  A female student locked her gray GT Zoom with a cable lock on the South side bike rack of building LA 1.  Her bicycle valued at $220 was stolen between 11:00 am and 9:00 pm.  Meanwhile, on parking lot 15 next to the College of Business Building,  a male student reported his Schwin Tours to be stolen.  This bicycle was stolen between 2:00 pm and 4:30 pm.  All the student found when he came back was his broken cable lock.  No arrests have been made or bikes been found for either case.

If you haven't noticed by now, the one thing that all these thefts have in common is that they have all been locked by a cable lock.  Captain Solorzono has noticed this trend too and has advice for students that use bicycles around CSULB.  "Students to invest in a U-lock instead of a cable lock to help deter bike thieves."  He also mentioned that bikes around campus can be registered.  "It's like a license plate for your car.  A number goes into a database and if it's found, it can be returned to it's rightful owner."  These registrations are $5 and can be done at the University Police Substation.

All victims found was a cable lock similar to this, but broken.   Photo by Cesar Mondragon

U-Locks like this one take more time to break.  Photo By Cesar Mondragon

Tresspasing and Ressisting

A couple trespassers have been arrested and booked at the Long Beach Police department after a background check showed an arrest warrant for the one of the suspects.  On March 21, the University Police received a call regarding a trespasser near the Residential Learning College of the Cal State Long Beach campus.  It was determined that one of the trespassers, a female, was a former resident of the college which had been subsequently revoked by housing.  She was detained along with a male companion and a warrant check then revealed that there was an arrest warrant of $30,000 for petty theft on her record.

This is where the intruders were seen. 

The suspects male companion, was not fully cooperating with the police however.  Not only was he giving false statements but also refused to sit down when he was told to do so and instead tried to enter the room where they were trespassing in.  At one point the male suspect began to move closer toward the police officer and this prompted then to use force.  When he began to resist, backup was called.  "One of the officers is now experiencing back pain due to their little scuffle." said Lieutenant Scot Willey.  "It looked she was trying to get her stuff, but the guy was acting stupid." said Valerie Contreras a student.  Both suspects have been taken to jail.

Theft at the Nugget

A CSULB student is now without some of his most prized possessions and is left with only questions after his gym bag was stolen at The Nugget Grill and Pub located on campus.  On March 17, a bag which contained 2 Macbooks, 1 cannon Camera, WESC headphones and some cash, was apparently left by the dining area of The Nugget as the Student returned he found the bag to be gone.



This is the apparent robbery took place.  Photo Taken by Cesar Mondragon



A total loss of $3,570 is what is being estimated.  Some students were shocked to find out about the theft.  Amanda Reynolds, a frequent visitor of The Nugget said "It's a real shame that someone would do that, knowing that we are all struggling college students.  I feel bad for the guy."  Other students like Robert Segura feel puzzled about the victims carelessness.  "That's alot of fancy stuff to be carrying around.  I sure as hell, wouldn't be leaving lying around anywhere, not even for a second."  At this time no arrests have been made.



Why Crime?

When I learned about this assignment, I immediately thought about focusing on crime.  Crime itself is an interesting topic, but with drew me initially was the campus aspect of it.  I want to find out what kind of criminal behavior takes place in a southern California college campus.  This blog will focus on the crime that takes place at the Cal State Long Beach campus.   With a brief sypnosis' of cases, detailed descriptions of  suspects and interviews with students and police officers I hope to provide an in-depth look into the criminal activity that transpires on  campus.  Not only will a provide the criminal events on a case by case basis, but also ad tips that will be provided to my by the campus police to help you be more safe and prevent anything that could be deemed as harmful. in any.  I will meet with Captain Fernando Solorzano on a regular basis, discuss the cases in detail and eventually bring them to you my readers.

Captain Fernando Solorzano of the University Police. Photo Taken by Jennie Kropp