Police see increase in thefts from vehicles

The IU Police Department has experienced a larger number of thefts from vehicles within the last couple of weeks, and IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said the warm weather is partially to blame.\n"Since the weather started getting nice last week, we've started experiencing more thefts from vehicles," Minger said. "So we've been putting extra people out on the lots and having extra patrols."\nAt about 4 a.m. Thursday, IUPD received a call from someone saying they had seen a man walking around the parking lot of Forest Quad and trying to open the doors to vehicles. An officer arrived at the lot and saw a man test several car doors to see if they were unlocked. He then successfully opened the door of a vehicle, got in, got back out and shut the door, Minger said, reading from the police report.\nAccording to the report, freshman Dustin Shafer, 19, denied ever entering any vehicles. Minger said Shafer "had a substantial amount of alcohol in his system" and was arrested on preliminary charges of illegal consumption and public intoxication.\nThe officer searched Shafer and discovered he was carrying a Sony car charger, an iTrip music player, an Alpine CD cover and a Jensen CD cover, according to the report. Minger said someone came to the police department Thursday morning to report the CD cover stolen, and that IUPD returned it to the owner.\nAccording to the report, Shafer was booked into the Monroe County Jail on preliminary charges of theft and possession of stolen property, both class D felonies, as well as public intoxication and illegal consumption.\n"One thing that was really good about this was that we had gotten a call from someone who didn't have a campus address who said he saw this person walking through the lot," Minger said. "To have community members give out this kind of information is so important and helps out the police department so much."\nShafer did not return e-mails seeking comment before press time.