The University of Minnesota Police Department is preparing for one of the busiest summers in recent years.
With the new opening of the Green Line light rail and TCF Bank Stadium hosting both the Vikings’ preseason games and an international soccer match, UMPD plans to stay as alert as ever to keep theft down, University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner said.
“Theft is always our biggest crime,” Miner said. “We’ll be making sure the usual places thieves hang out are monitored.”
Bike theft in particular increases during the summer, Miner said, so police will continue a department program that baits three bicycles at theft hot spots in an attempt to catch thieves.
During finals week, multiple thefts of items like laptops and cellphones occurred in University buildings — including Kolthoff Hall and Coffman Union. Despite the minor uptick, Miner said electronic thefts are typical on campus year-round.
“We’ll be continuing to monitor a couple of repeat robberies near campus,” he said.
Property damaged at Comstock
It rained furniture outside Comstock Hall on May 17, when University police responded to a call that someone was throwing University property out the residence hall’s windows at about 3 a.m., according to a police report.
Travis Johnson, a University chemistry senior, was working at the dorm’s front desk when he said he saw things like mattresses and garbage cans falling into the courtyard.
“There was a whole room’s worth of stuff being thrown out,” he said.
Two desk chairs, six desk drawers, two window screens and a set of curtains were thrown out the fifth-floor window of an unlocked public room, Miner said.
“It looks like he threw everything but the kitchen sink,” Miner said of the arrestee, noting he was a guest of a University student. “I have to believe alcohol was involved.”
Police booked the arrestee in Hennepin County Jail for burglary of dwelling, the police report said.
Police also cited other guests for consumption of liquor by a minor, possession of drug paraphernalia and trespassing.
Student assaulted at fraternity
A University student reported an assault at a fraternity on 19th Avenue Southeast on May 18.
While at Kappa Sigma fraternity around midnight, a University student tried to assault Saurabh Kapadia.
Kapadia placed the student under citizen’s arrest until police arrived.
Police arrested the student for attempt to cause bodily harm. They later booked him at Hennepin County Jail.
The arrestee had a breath alcohol content of .234, according to the police report.
U student robbed in Marcy-Holmes
Two men robbed a University student in Marcy Park on May 17, near the intersection of Eighth Street Southeast and 11th Avenue Southeast, according to a crime alert sent to the University community.
The student wasn’t injured during the robbery, but the two suspects carrying weapons took his cellphone and wallet.
The student told Minneapolis police he saw the two men sitting on a bench and the men told him to stop. One of the men pointed a gun at him and the other pulled out a knife, according to the crime alert.
After taking the student’s belongings, the two suspects ran north along 10th Avenue Southeast, the crime alert said. Law enforcement officials are investigating the robbery.
