A rash of vandalisms and thefts from cars have plagued U of M parking lots since the beginning of the semester, including three on the same day in April, according reports held by U of M Police Services.
On April 5, one car was vandalized near a university dorm and two radios were stolen from cars in U of M parking lots. Around 2 p.m., a student found his Chevrolet Avalanche’s locks punched and his radio stolen, according to a report written by officer James Vickers.
“They took the stereo and several other items inside the vehicle,” Vickers wrote.
The car was broken into near the Southern Avenue parking lot. Just three hours later, another student’s car was broken into, this time in the Central Avenue parking lot, and the student found the radio in his 2006 Chrysler stolen.
“There was no sign of forced entry and no damage to the dashboard,” according to a report written by officer Mark McClain Around midnight, a vandal smashed the right rear window of a student’s 1998 Toyota parked near Rawls Hall.
“Victim advised that there was nothing missing from the vehicle, only damage to the window,” officer Fuller wrote in his report.
Derek Meyers, assistant chief and director of U of M Police Services, was not available for comment; however, he previously told The Daily Helmsman,
“Traditionally, more burglaries happen during the day because there are more cars out here during the day.” Less than a week earlier, on March 30 at 5 p.m., officer McClain responded to a motor vehicle parts theft in the Central Avenue parking lot.
The victim found his stereo had been taken, with the lock broken.
Last year, 19 cars were burglarized at the U of M, according to the campus crime report produced by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Myers said there were 38 thefts from vehicles and thefts of motor vehicle parts reported last year.
Only three of these cases were cleared when an arrest was made. In 2014, 18 cases of theft from motor vehicles were reported with no clearances.
Thefts of motor vehicle parts gathered 27 reports with two arrests. Alexa Johnson, sophomore foreign language major, voiced her concern for her van being parked out of sight.
“As someone whose car is very important to them, I worry about this,” Johnson said. “It’s bad enough that I have people goofing around outside leaving scratches and dents. I don’t have money for that.”
According to police reports, there have been several vandalisms and motor vehicle parts thefts since the beginning of the year.
Mya Thornton, a 21-year-old criminal justice major, voiced her concern for her safety and personal items.
“Knowing that we’ve had car break-ins makes me uncomfortable, so I try not to make myself an easy target,” Thornton said.
Myers insists the best preventative measure to take to avoid theft is keeping personal valuables out of sight.
“Use anti-theft measures if students have them, like locking doors, turning on alarms and other things like that,” Myers said.
