Two men broke into the University’s Enrollment Management building early Thursday morning, but thanks to fast-acting Campus Safety officers, the alleged perpetrators escaped empty-handed after fleeing from police.
“Just like many crimes, it’s a crime of opportunity,” said University Safety Operations Director Ruben Ibarra. “They know a lot of campuses are closed down and maybe assumed we were closed too, and no one was around. But thanks to our vigilant officers, we were able to respond quickly.”
At 4:20 a.m. Campus Safety officers noticed a white Chevrolet Suburban parked outside the Enrollment Management building, via their surveillance video. Two men were seen cutting the locked fence to enter the building as the officers responded.
The officers immediately notified the La Verne Police Department. Police arrived on the scene within minutes, and they quickly established a perimeter around the building with the help of the San Gabriel, Glendora and Claremont police departments.
A police dog searched inside the building as a drone searched the roof, but the suspects were still at large as of Thursday evening.
As there was no other evidence of forced entry inside of the building, Campus Safety believes the suspects stole nothing.
The building also houses many of the school’s central services including ULV Graphics, mail services and part of the Office of Information Technology.
The would-be thieves did, however, leave their Suburban behind, which contained various items that may have been stolen from other locations.
La Verne police were unable to comment Thursday on the case currently under investigation.
“It’s like how regular burglars come out in the daytime to hit peoples homes because they know they’re at work, this is a little the opposite,” Ibarra said. “They know a lot of these businesses are closed down with no one around, so they are taking advantage of the situation.”
–Joey Matsuzawa
