The first three days of school brought alarming news of 16 car break-ins, but it has not been a problem since then.

Police Chief Jim Wiegand of campus police said this year, as compared to recent years, has been “pretty good” when regarding car break-ins. He seemed to discontinue all of the rumors that were circulating on campus after the first three days of school.

“We do random patrols around the parking lots of the school, especially with Lots 6 and 12, where there is a lot of traffic flow,” Wiegand said.

He said there have been one or two random occurrences since then, but nothing like the mass break-in that occurred the first week of school. There is no reason for the students to be alarmed.

Sgt. Tim James of the campus police said they have caught the person responsible. He was identified as a male from Toledo, not a student at the University, and has been spending time in jail.

But, even with the reassuring comments Wiegand made, James warns that this doesn’t mean it won’t happen again, and that some people may attempt to prove him wrong with the publication of this article.

With the holidays coming up, there are many different precautions that students can take to ensure the safety of their possessions.

Freshman Megan Pucci said she always locks her car doors and doesn’t keep any valuables in her car, either. The best action to take is for students to always lock their car doors, even if they only step away from the car for a short time. Ensuring there is nothing extremely valuable in the car is a good idea, too. If there is no choice but to keep them in, make sure they are out of sight from anyone that might be looking in the windows of a vehicle. Hiding expensive possessions in a glove box, under seats or in the trunk is better than setting in on the passenger seat.

Ashley Brandenburg, a freshman commuter student from Perrysburg, said she often parks in well-lit parking lots, another precaution students can take.

One fact to always keep in mind was reiterated by Lt. David Weekley and published in the article that followed the group of break-ins earlier in the year. He made the point that car break-ins do occur in spurts, saying, “You might see a spike in the number of vehicles broken into over a particular weekend, but then it can calm right back down again.”

BREAK-IN HISTORY

BGSU faced car break-ins earlier this year.

June 30, 2007 – Three men, Justin Beck, 19, Travis Cutlip, 21, and Darrin Young, 18, were arrested by city police after a Wallace Avenue resident chased them when they were trying to break into his vehicle.

Jan. 24, 2007 – The BG News reported campus police were called to Lot 6, where they found 20 damaged student vehicles and two vandalisms.

Aug. 20 to 22, 2007 – During the first three days of school, there were a total of 16 car break-ins, most involving smashing out the rear window of the vehicle.