By Laura Ingalls
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Police want the university community's help in apprehending a man connected to at least one theft in a three-week rash of wallet and backpack thefts.
Eight thefts in south campus buildings, five of them in the Bio Sciences West building, have occured since the first theft Aug. 25.
"That's a lot based on the normal case load of theft," said Sgt. Sal Celi, who is investigating the cases.
"We're not used to having two (thefts) a week," he said. "That would be out of the ordinary."
Police believe the thefts may be related and have two pictures of unidentified suspects.
Police obtained an Iowa driver's license of one suspect from a Saguaro Credit Union teller who confiscated it Aug. 31 when she realized the man was trying to cash a woman's check. The victim's checkbook was stolen only about 10 minutes before the suspect attempted to cash her check.
Bradley McDannald, 21, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the name on the license but may not be the suspect's real name, Celi said.
Another man was videotaped stealing a black backpack from the the ASUA Bookstore about 1:30 p.m. Sept. 8.
"I'd like to speak to him about that backpack he's holding," Celi said.
The photographs reveal that both men may be students or posing as students to take unguarded items from open buildings during the day. Their student-type dress gives them the perfect chance to blend in at the university while they choose items to steal, Celi said.