The University of Wisconsin Police Department is looking for a suspect who is using stolen bankcards taken from the Memorial Union.
Many University of Wisconsin students have recently had credit cards stolen from them at the Union. According to the UW Police Department’s website, the perpetrator has used the stolen cards to commit credit card fraud and forgery.
Detective Brett Fernholz, who is leading the investigation, identified the suspect as a white female, approximately in her early 20s with dark brown hair. She is about 5’10” and weighs close to 140 pounds.
The woman behind the crimes typically wears dark clothing and may have a dark, shoulder computer bag.
The thefts have all taken place at Memorial Union. The suspect reportedly goes into students’ backpacks after they have left them unattended, typically stealing only credit cards while leaving other items behind.
“She uses them almost immediately after,” Detective Fernholz said. “The suspect knows she has an hour or two to use the cards before the student realizes they are missing.”
The assailant has been purchasing items at businesses off-campus and has repeated this procedure several times.
“I think that the victim is partly at fault too,” UW sophomore J.J. Pike said. “I would never leave my wallet or any of my valuable possessions alone for a period of time. That’s just stupid.”
But UW sophomore Maggie Olson feels otherwise.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of students being stupid but rather a normal tendency to not be overly cautious or paranoid,” she said. “But I suppose you have to be cautious if things like this are going to happen.”
Olson normally feels pretty safe on campus, but “…it’s occurrences like this that make me think I need to be more careful.”
The investigation has currently been continuing for more than a month. After checking with original police report documents, Fernholz determined the first reported theft took place March 5.
The suspect will likely be charged with six felonies if arrested. Anyone who has information regarding the crimes should direct it to Detective Fernholz at (608) 262-0139. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous can do so by contacting Crimes Stoppers at 262-TIPS.
Some students have expressed thoughts that UW should enhance their policy of keeping students’ property safe, even if some privacy should be sacrificed.
“Campus safety and personal security should be numero uno, especially in our campus facilities,” UW junior Tyler Nelson said. “Presumably this person is a student or even an alumnus. I’m all for diversity of student background, but our school must work proactively to root this criminal personality from the student body. I think that this could be accomplished by an amendment to the school charter in the tradition of the Patriot Act, including enhanced campus surveillance procedures and thorough background checks.”