A string of thefts have been plaguing the Tiger Market, the recently opened convenient store located on the bottom floor of Centennial Place.
According to an incident report filed with police services by Tom Nelson, area manager for Refreshments Inc., a regional vending company that owns and operates the store, since at least Dec. 15 of last year, over $2,011 worth of products have been taken from the store.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me for students to be going in there, using their student ID to swipe to get in the door, and then stealing stuff. It’s just too easy to be caught,” Nelson said in a phone interview with the Daily Helmsman.
The incident report Nelson filed states that during the month of December, the contract that Refreshments Inc. had with PanOptic, a company that it uses to monitor the store, was inactive.
Nelson said that the contract is now active, and the store is being monitored to deter future thefts.
Students at Centennial Place said that they were unaware there had been such a problem at the store, yet Nelson said some thieves weren’t exactly trying to hide what they were doing. In some cases, he said that some students were oddly brazen, going so far as to take selfies inside of the store before making off with stolen items.
Chief of campus police, Derek Myers, said that officers have identified the students responsible and have responded accordingly.
“We’ve been able to identify those responsible and they have been referred to Student Accountability for code violations. They will also be referred for criminal prosecution if the company desires to take it to court,” he told the Daily Helmsman in an email statement.
The thefts are evidence of a rough start for the small store which has only been active inside the residence hall since around last semester, according to Nelson and officials at Centennial Place.
On top of continuing to actively monitor the store for theft, Nelson added that more cameras will be installed inside to further deter would-be thieves.
“Everyone that is stealing, we are turning over to the university,” he said.
The small convenience store near the lobby of the Centennial Place dorms have experienced a rash of thefts totalling over $2,000.
