On April 9, two vehicles were broken into at the assisted living facility University Village on 3600 Campus Drive around 6:20 a.m. Police are looking into connections between this break-in and the car break-ins that occurred in the Trinity Hall parking lot between March 14 and 15.

“The windows on two vehicles were broken with an unknown instrument. The vehicles were a BMW and Toyota Corolla,” said Officer Tim Lohman of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. “The items taken were purses in both cars and a iPad.”

Surveillance cameras at University Village captured photos of a male suspect who was seen removing property from the vehicles. He later left in a white Nissan Maxima.

Officer Lohman said that the community is being notified of these break-ins through social and print media, along with California Lutheran University Campus Safety officers.

The Cal Lutheran community was last notified via email March 15 following four car break-ins on the Cal Lutheran campus.

On April 3, Director of Campus Safety David Hilke said that there was no new information for the community. On April 6, the Campus Safety office said that they would be unable to provide information until April 10 when Hilke returned.

On April 27, Hilke said in an email interview that there were four car break-ins reported but also one more theft from a car without forced entry.

“Thousand Oaks Police Department deputies arrested a man for attempting to break into vehicles on campus on April 16. The suspect did not break into any cars before he was arrested,” Hilke said in an email interview. “Capt. Don Aguilar, assistant chief of the Thousand Oaks Police Department, said this man has not been linked to the March break-ins at this time.”

Hilke said items taken included a laptop with bag, medical supplies, snowboard and boots, athletic bag with athletic supplies, sunglasses and a GPS.

“The Thousand Oaks Police Department, which contracts with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department for services, is handling the investigation so their officers would be ones to ask,” Hilke said in an email interview. “They have not notified us of any suspects.”

Hilke said that Campus Safety has no camera footage of the break-ins due to overgrown trees. Hilke said Campus Safety has identified which trees need to be trimmed. He said that they also perform extra patrols by car, foot and vehicle.

“We all thought that we had some sort of expectation of safety when we park our cars on campus,” sophomore Madison Collins said. “With the bicycle thefts and everything else, I feel like [Campus Safety] hasn’t been keeping us aware of all the crime on campus.”

Collins said she wishes Campus Safety would alert students of crimes as they happened so that they can be aware of the dangers of parking your car on campus.

“We are aware of break-ins on campus and looking to see if they are related,” Lohman said. “These cases are all being investigated to see if there are commonalities as far as the suspect description or vehicle involved.”

Officer Lohman recommends all community members to lock their cars and remove all valuables from sight.

If anyone has information about information or can identify the suspect, the Ventura County Police Department is requesting they contact Detective Chris Zapata (805) 494-8221 or Sheriff’s Dispatch (805) 654-9511.

Brandy Alonzo-Mayland
Staff Writer