Thieves again strike UC Davis, this time at two locations
DAVIS — Thieves struck again on the campus of UC Davis, with the latest two break-ins happening at two separate locations.
Dorian Salomon is a science major at the university. Nowadays, he's not feeling too secure while walking to class.
"It being very safe, especially at night, but the past couple of months, the atmosphere has changed," he said. It's very unfortunate because that's what UC Davis' reputation has been. It's definitely a shocking event."
Over the weekend, thieves broke into two separate buildings: the first one at Veihmeyer Hall, which is home to the hydrology program; and then another at the Food and Science Sprocket Laboratory.
An associate professor tweeted that her labs and staff offices got broken into. Campus police confirmed laptops and other lab equipment were taken, and they believe there may be a pattern.
"There was a thin piece of metal that seemed to be wedged in to keep the exterior door from locking," said Lt. Doug Voska with campus police.
These latest break-ins come just weeks after crooks made off with instruments worth thousands of dollars from the campus music department. While no arrests have been made in any of these cases, some students we spoke to had mixed feelings about the latest campus crime.
"Theft of property isn't something that makes me personally feel like I'm super in danger," said one student who wasn't worried.
"In west Davis where there's no street lamps at all and I used to bike home at like 1 or 2 in the morning after studying and working in the library, that definitely did not feel like the safest bike ride in the world," another student said.
For now, police are following up on some leads and say they plan to prevent further break-ins by renovating older buildings and adding more security.
"We're trying to add more cameras and alarm systems on campus, so there's a process. It takes a while, and we're doing that in a number of different directions," Lt. Voska said.
Anyone with information about the latest campus lab break-ins is urged to contact UC Davis police.