Tonja Torgerson discovered her laptop and camera were missing when she came home March 22.

There were no signs of forced entry and Torgerson, a fine arts junior, said she believes she locked the door before leaving.

The burglary happened sometime between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., she said.

Torgerson said someone also stole her roommate’s camera and some DVDs.

“They only took what they could carry,” Torgerson said.

She said she has the serial number for her laptop, so if it turns up at a pawn shop, she’ll be able to get it back.

Torgerson said that when she talked with police, they kept telling her how common theft is in the neighborhood. She lives in the 1800 block of Como Avenue Southeast.

Jennifer Lee, resource coordinator for the Southeast Como Improvement Association, said neighbors haven’t reported any recent break-ins.

Too drunk

An officer arrived about midnight at the Territorial Hall parking lot on the report of “one down.”

According to the report, the officer found a University student passed out between two cars and lying in her own vomit.

The officer reported it was hard to wake her, and she had to be carried into an ambulance.

The officer and paramedics tried to get her name but could not understand her slurred speech.

The officer obtained her name and age from residence hall staff, and issued her a citation for minor consumption.

Steve Johnson, deputy police chief for the University, said this incident is somewhat common around campus.

“Just about every weekend we have someone go by ambulance,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the situation could have been worse if she had choked on her vomit.

At the University, students frequently go to the hospital for drinking too much, but there haven’t been many related deaths, Johnson said.

“We’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had people die,” Johnson said.

Miscounting change

A parking attendant at 18th Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast called police to report she had been swindled out of money.

Johnson said a man asked the female attendant for her phone number but the woman wouldn’t give it to him.

The suspect started to become agitated and then said he needed change because his waiter job at the Mall of America requires him to be able to make change.

The suspect then kept saying he needed change for a 20, for a 10 or singles, Johnson said.

Johnson said the woman had already felt threatened from being asked for her phone number, and was not thinking clearly and just kept giving him the change.

After the man left, she said, she had given him four $20 bills, and he had given her only five singles in return.

Johnson said this is an inactive and isolated case.