University police officer Ryan Rivers misplaced his badge on May 17.
According to a police report, Rivers last saw his badge in the men’s locker room at the police station.
The report said he removed the badge from his uniform before washing it.
“This doesn’t happen very often,” Deputy Police Chief for the University Police Department Steve Johnson said. “It’s very rare that badges are missing.”
Johnson said it is illegal to impersonate an officer. All University police officers have a photo identification in addition to a badge, he said.
The estimated value of the badge is $80.
University thefts
University graduate student Alison Behrens reported a blue and black Toshiba laptop stolen from the mechanical engineering building May 24.
According to a police report, an unknown person disconnected the laptop from its other equipment and removed it from a lab sometime between the evening of May 21 and the morning of May 24.
Steve Cawley, associate vice president of the Office of Information Technology, said if the thief or thieves try to connect the laptop to the University network, the office can trace it. Johnson said thieves often target laptops.
“Laptops are something you can carry away and steal and get some money for,” he said.
There are no suspects in the ongoing investigation.
In another on-campus theft, Megan Thomas, executive director of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, reported a digital camera stolen from GAPSA’s office at Coffman Union on Saturday.
Thomas reported the camera’s serial number, which police can enter into a database of stolen items.
If the camera is found, police can run the serial number to identify it as stolen property and arrest the person who has it, Johnson said.
“It’s always important to record the model and serial number of valuable items before they are stolen,” he said.
Pawn shops can also check if the item is stolen, Johnson said.
Underage drinking
A Riverbend Commons community adviser found a University student passed out on a toilet in the building’s lobby May 23.
The 20-year-old was still on the toilet when police arrived, according to a police report.
They tried to wake him several times and were finally successful when he slid off the toilet, according to the report.
The student handed police his driver’s license and said he had had a lot to drink.
The report said the breathalyzer showed the student’s blood alcohol level was almost twice the legal driving limit.
He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center and received an underage drinking ticket.
Johnson said it is illegal for an underage person to have any alcohol in his or her blood.
