$33K Worth Of Laptops Nabbed From UCLA Library
WESTWOOD (CBSLA.com) — A brazen campus burglar managed to make off with $33,000 worth of laptops from UCLA this weekend.
Authorities don't believe this is the first time the man has ransacked a campus building.
Campus police said surveillance video captured the man, sporting a UCLA sweatpants, breaking into the Charles E. Young Research Library at 2:26 a.m. Saturday.
The suspect smashed the window on the door to a storage room where the 55 Apple MacBook Pro laptops were kept and loaned to library patrons.
The footage also shows the suspect leaving the room with three roller suitcases and a shoulder bag at 2:41 a.m., police said.
The crime was reported by a library employee around 9:30 a.m.
Investigators said the culprit resembles a man caught on camera stealing two laptops from the Ackerman Student Union on September 28.
"I think it's really sad. I really depend, and other students really depend, on them," said UCLA senior Teresa Contreras, who had planned to check out a laptop Monday night to prepare for midterm exams.
The Chicano studies major said: "I actually rely a lot on it. I commute, so carrying a laptop that's 15 pounds is not an option."
Meanwhile, school officials are referring students to other computer labs.
A group of sociology majors said they hope the burglar isn't a student.
"For four years, this is our home. And they came in and disrupted it," Jordan Wright said.
Police said they're not sure if the man, described as 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build, attends the school.
Police ask that anybody with information about the suspect or the crime contact UCLA police at (310) 825-1491.
