A car was stolen and three other vehicles were broken into last week at the Oak Street Ramp, according to police reports.
Steve Johnson, deputy police chief for the University Police Department, said the stolen car was later recovered in Maplewood, Minn.
The green Chevrolet Prizm’s owner, Quanzhi Li, said whoever stole his car also took $10 in quarters he kept inside for parking.
In the three other cases, someone broke into vehicles and stole various items.
There were no suspects in any of the break-ins.
Johnson said only one additonal break-in has been reported since December at the Oak Street Ramp.
“It’s sporadic when it comes to car break-ins,” he said. “We had a rash of them this past week.”
Joseph Schnide said that he lost approximately $400 in property when his “almost-Minnesota-maroon” pick-up was broken into.
Among the CDs stolen, Schnide said the loss of his Dave Clark Five double disc bugs him the most.
“They only had one CD ever released,” Schnide said. “You can’t find (that CD) for under $60, and sometimes, it’s as much as $150.”
Johnson advised drivers not to leave objects in a car that might attract suspects looking for something to steal.
“If you have CDs or other things of value, even a jacket, lock it up in the trunk,” Johnson said.
The police have increased their patrols of the area, Johnson said, and are looking for any information about suspicious behavior around the ramps when these incidents occurred.
Parking permits abused
University Police Officer David St. Cyr cited six people March 24 for illegally using handicap permits to park on campus, according to police reports.
Five of the permit violators are University students.
Johnson said people abuse handicap parking permits because they want to have the most convenient parking spots possible for free.
One student used a deceased woman’s parking permit but said she thought the permit belonged to her deceased grandfather.
In another police report, a woman caught using her mother’s parking permit begged the officer for forgiveness.
“Even going so far as to get out of (the) vehicle, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around officer’s legs,” the police report said.
Improperly using handicap permits is a misdemeanor the Hennepin County Violations Bureau charges a minimum $520 fine for, Johnson said.
But $780 is the maximum fine Hennepin County could charge for the violation, he said.
St. Cyr writes at least 100 citations each year for abusing handicap permits, Johnson said.
The University Police Department is unique, he said, in its patrolling of handicap permits’ illegal use.
“I just don’t think other people are enforcing this like he is,” Johnson said.
Suspicious behavior
An officer responded to a call of suspicious activity Sunday at the Dwan Variety Club Cardiovascular Research Center.
According to the police report, an employee discovered an unlocked lab containing a half-eaten piece of strawberry shortcake bread and fecal matter smeared into some chairs.
Nothing was stolen, and there were no signs of forced entry.
But the employee told the officer the “whole lab smelled.”