Two elevators in Sanford Hall short-circuited last weekend, said Katie Eichele, the residence hall director. Someone kicked in an elevator’s call-button panel, instead of using his or her hand to push it.

The elevator shorted and stopped working, she said, causing a second elevator to stop working also.

This semester, vandals broke the elevators two to three times in the same way, Eichele said.

The residence hall did not report the incident to the University Police Department, Eichele said, but is working on documenting it with Housing and Residential Life.

“At this point, we haven’t got any solid leads on who is responsible,” she said.

Each time the elevator breaks, Eichele said, a repair person from Otis Elevator Co. is contracted to work on it.

The repair person’s hourly wage is approximately $60 to $90, she said.

“Plus, elevator parts aren’t cheap,” Eichele said.

Laptop computer thefts

Police reports said several laptops have been stolen in recent weeks.

Two of those thefts occurred in University departments.

At the department of medicine, division of cardiology, someone stole a laptop from a secured office that is sometimes left open.

Pfizer Inc. provided the computer for research purposes.

Someone also stole a laptop from the department of civil engineering.

Steve Johnson, deputy police chief for the University Police Department, said students and faculty members shouldn’t leave unattended laptops in accessible areas because potential thieves are always waiting for the right opportunity.

“I have been hearing the same report over and over for many years,” Johnson said.

Police can enter stolen laptops’ serial numbers and models into a national crime-reporting system to alert other agencies, including pawn shops.

If another department comes across the property, Johnson said, it will come up as stolen property.

Stolen chair

Police arrested a University student for obstructing the legal process after he stole a chair and attempted to hit an officer, according to a police report.

An officer noticed a man walking with a black chair belonging to Northrop Auditorium’s patio area, Johnson said.

The officer asked the man to stop twice, but the man ignored the officer.

The officer grabbed the man’s arm and told him to sit down, but the man turned and tried to punch the officer in the chest, missing and knocking off his radio, according to the report.

The student told the officer he wasn’t stealing the chair but was going to play a joke on his friend.

The man couldn’t remember his friend’s name, and the officer took the man to Hennepin County Jail.