Employees say scientific data stolen from hard drives is irreplaceable

Two suspects have been identified and one has already been arrested in connection to a string of burglaries at the Physics and Atmospheric Science building, UAPD officials said.

An astronomy freshman was arrested Wednesday, and another student was identified after several people who recognized the two suspects in pictures taken from a surveillance camera called the University of Arizona Police Department.

UAPD officials asked that the names of the two students be withheld until both of the suspects are in custody.

The burglaries occurred over a one-month period on the fifth floor of the PAS building, 1118 E. Fourth St.

The suspects accessed the fifth-floor offices with a master key and stole more than $10,000 in equipment.

The equipment included cameras, a projector, a laptop computer and several computer parts.

Cyrus Jones, a senior systems analyst for the Physics and Atmospheric Institute, said that although much of the equipment that was stolen can be reimbursed through insurance, the data collected from projects and stored on the hard drives is irreplaceable.

"What they took was scientific data that took months to compile," Jones said. "This was flat-out greed. They didn't care what type of disruption they made."

UAPD Detective Juan Alverez said a search was conducted Wednesday at the arrested suspect's room in Coronado Residence Hall, recovering some of the items that were stolen.

The suspect was found by UAPD officers at his girlfriend's house off campus, where he was arrested.

He was booked into Pima County Jail Wednesday on charges of third-degree burglary, and he was being held on $5,500 bond yesterday afternoon.

Alverez said UAPD officers are currently in the process of arresting the other suspect.