WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University police arrested a Lafayette man Tuesday (Dec. 30) for allegedly stealing computer equipment from the Meteorological Laboratory at 1305 McCormick Road.

Kevin R. Critser, 28, 3320 Mystic Lane, Lafayette, was charged with burglary and theft, said Purdue police detective Sgt. Matt Rosenbarger.

Police responded to an alarm at the building at 12:50 a.m. Tuesday. As officers stopped to open a gate into the area, a car approaching from the gate’s other side quickly turned around and sped off, Rosenbarger said. Police entered the area and found an abandoned blue Mitzubishi Eclipse stuck in the mud near the Purdue tennis complex.

Police obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and found computer equipment allegedly taken from the laboratory, Rosenbarger said. The car was registered to Critser, who was later found at the Country Villa Apartments in West Lafayette with an acquaintance. He was detained for questioning, and then arrested at 1 p.m.

Burglary is a Class C felony punishable by up to eight years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Theft is a Class D felony punishable by a maximum of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue police have arrested two people for allegedly stealing a vacuum cleaner from the university’s Recreational Sports Center.

Paul. S. Petticrew, 19, a freshman in the College of Science from Zionsville, Ind., and James A. Berg 18, a freshman in the School of Management from Shawano, Wis., were arrested Thursday (Nov. 20). Both face theft charges.

According to a police report, surveillance video showed two men using a student identification card to enter the center’s rear turnstile shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 16). The entrance is near a closet in which the vacuum was stored. The video shows the person believed to be Berg leaving the area followed by the person believed to be Petticrew leaving with the vacuum cleaner, valued at about $344.

Theft is a Class D felony, punishable by up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University police are investigating the theft of about $15,000 worth of copper electric power cable from a storage compound near the Physical Facilities Service Building off Ahlers Drive.

Purdue police Lt. Fred Davis said approximately 2,500 feet of coiled electric power cable was taken sometime between Wednesday (Oct. 29) evening and early Thursday (Oct. 30) morning. About 50 rolls of black plastic-coated cable, each weighing 40-50 pounds and 50 feet in length, were taken from storage containers at the compound, he said.

The theft was reported to police at about 10 a.m. Thursday after employees of the high-voltage electric shop noticed that a storage container was missing its padlock, and the door was open.

Theft is a Class D felony punishable by up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call the Purdue Police Department at (765) 494-8221 or the anonymous tipline at (765) 496-3784.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University police officer on bicycle patrol caught three men allegedly burglarizing the Underground Café in the Hicks Undergradute Library early Sunday (June 29).

Officer Mike Boesch was on patrol at about 3 a.m. when he noticed a 1995 tan Mercury Grand Marquis parked in a no-parking zone in front of Stewart Center, according to a police report. Remembering several recent reported thefts in Stewart Center and the Hicks library, Boesch proceeded to ride to each of the Stewart Center doors to make sure they were secured when he noticed two men exiting the east doors at Hicks.

“One of the men was carrying a large backpack in front of him, and it appeared to be heavy,” Purdue police Lt. Fred Davis said. “The two got in the vehicle, where a third man was sitting in the driver’s seat, and our officer confronted them.”

Davis said that Boesch asked to see what was in the backpack, and the man carrying it complied. The officer found several Rockstar energy drinks and two Fuze fruit drinks inside of it.

After further searches and questioning at the Purdue police station the three men were arrested on multiple charges. All are listed as homeless and have no connections to Purdue.

Nicholas R. Smith, 19, who was seen exiting the library, had been previously banned from the Purdue campus. He was charged with burglary, Class C felony; theft, a Class D felony; trespassing, a Class A misdemeanor; and failure to appear on a previous charge. He also was charged with possession of marijuana under 30 grams, a Class A misdemeanor, after police found a baggie in the jacket he was wearing. A warrant for his arrest also had been issued by Lafayette police for a battery charge.

Alan E. Hughes, 21, the vehicle’s driver, was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, a Class C felony, and false informing, a Class B misdemeanor. Tyler J. Bradbury, 20, the person seen carrying the backpack, was charged with burglary and theft.

Class C felonies are punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and a maximum eight years in prison, and Class D felonies are punishable by up to a $10,000 fine and three years in prison. Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $5,000 fine, and Class B misdemeanors by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Each of the three have been issued trespass orders and are banned from the Purdue campus, Davis said.

“This is a fine example of how bike patrol aids us in our duties here at Purdue,” Davis said. “Officer Boesch was able to observe the suspicious activity from areas that would have been extremely difficult by officers in our patrol vehicles.”

Davis said Purdue police also contacted Lafayette police about several fireworks found in the car in relation to a theft at Circle City Fireworks.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Abandoned and damaged bicycles on the West Lafayette academic campus (not residence halls or Purdue Village) will be removed during the next week in a partnership between the Grounds Department and Purdue Police.

Student patrol officers will begin marking bicycles this week and the bikes will be removed by grounds personnel next week (May 5-9).

Removed bicycles will be held for 90 days and a master list of all bicycles removed will be maintained by the police department. After the 90-day holding period, abandoned bicycles will be made available for sale using established University procedures.

Gary Evans, director of grounds, encourages students to take care of their bicycles before the semester ends.

“Our mission is to maintain the visible excellence of our campus, and abandoned bikes detract from that image,” Evans said. “We also want to provide fair warning to students that we are conducting a campus-wide sweep, and to let them know they should contact the police department at 49-48221 if they think their bicycle was secured as a damaged or abandoned bike.”