On-campus parking lots targeted in car thefts

After returning from class last week, senior Mike Ziulkowski went to get his Jeep Wrangler from the Willkie North back parking lot so he could pick up his girlfriend from class. But Ziulkowski was surprised to find his window unzipped on the passenger side. \n"I thought the wind might have blown it off because some snow had gotten in my car," he said. "But I walked around to the back of the car and saw the back window was all the way open."\nZiulkowski found more than $1,500 worth of items -- including his speakers, amplifier, loafers and stereo system -- were stolen.\nAccording to police reports, there have been about 34 instances of vehicle vandalism or larceny in various on-campus parking lots, garages and greek house lots since Jan. 1.\nAfter filing a police report with the IU Police Department, officers uncovered a hammer from Ziulkowski's Jeep, which they believe was used to loosen various pieces of equipment from the car.\n"They are going to use the prints on the hammer to try to catch the people who did this," said Ziulkowski, who had to pay a $500 insurance deductible to cover the damage to his car.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said it's difficult to estimate if there has been an increase in vehicle vandalism and larceny incidents.\n"Statistics indicate that the incidents haven't been concentrated in just one lot," Minger said. "They are random across campus."\nMinger advises victims to contact the IUPD as soon as they notice their vehicle has been vandalized or broken into. He said victims should not touch or move their vehicle until officers finish investigating.\n"In a case like (Ziulkowski's), where officers confiscated a hammer from the vehicle, we know right away that it was brought from outside into a crime scene," Minger said. "We process and fingerprint the evidence, bag it and check it into evidence."\nMinger said IUPD officers "rarely" catch the perpetrators because the incidents are similar to hit-and-run crimes. However, he said if the crimes continue to concentrate in specific locations, IUPD will often increase the patrol around the area.\n"Sometimes it's hard because when you've only got three or four uniform people patrolling the entire campus, it's very hard to be in every place at once," Minger said. "It's expensive and time consuming to bring in more officers and without the proper funding, its nearly impossible."\nZiulkowski, a floor president at Willkie, said he is trying to gain support to pass a bill which will allow funding for security cameras in the Willkie parking lot.\n"Security cameras are necessary here and in every other parking lot on campus," Ziulkowski said.\nMinger said IUPD does not have proper funding to install security cameras in on-campus parking lots.\n"We would love to have the extra surveillance, but our budget has been cut so severely over the years that it's not a service we can supply," he said. "If Willkie wanted to do something like that, I commend them for taking extra steps to create an additional layer of security."\nZiulkowski, who won't be able to get the large hole in the soft top of his Jeep fixed until spring break, said he still parks at Willkie because of convenience.\n"I can't not drive to school because I'm scared to," Ziulkowski said. "I just don't understand why somebody would do this to me or to anyone else."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Lori Geller at lfgeller@indiana.edu.