Two Madison residents charged with stealing property from University of Wisconsin students in February and March of this year made their initial court appearances Monday.
Former UW student Zachary Miller, 20, and Tamara Case, 20, allegedly stole textbooks, purses, iPods and cash from several UW buildings, including Grainger Hall, Chemistry, Humanities, Law and College Library.
Miller and Case are also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and Miller is charged with carrying a concealed weapon — a charge stemming from his initial arrest when officials found he had a metal knife on him.
According to Assistant District Attorney Mike Verveer, who was in court with the suspects Monday, Miller was apprehended after the UW Police Department received an e-mail from the University Bookstore saying several textbooks had been returned to them that were included on a list of recently stolen books. The bookstore called UWPD later to say Miller was back in the store attempting to sell more textbooks.
When officers arrived, Miller attempted to flee but was apprehended.
"In this particular case, if it wasn't for the cooperation of the University Bookstore, these folks would probably still be continuing their crime spree on campus," Verveer said.
Verveer said Miller and Case, who were allegedly stealing textbooks to pay for their heroin habit, are no longer allowed on UW property.
Miller and Case lived together in an apartment on Hawthorne Court. Police obtained a search warrant for the home and found a "large amount of heroin paraphernalia" and property that was stolen from the various UW buildings.
Verveer, who is also the District 4 alder, said this case is an example of why Madison needs a proposed textbook sales ordinance. The ordinance, which is up for vote at tonight's City Council meeting, would require any Madison store receiving at least 25 percent of its profits from used textbook sales to record the title of every used book sold to them, as well as the name of the seller.
"It would provide absolutely a deterrent effect for textbook thieves," said Verveer, who is a sponsor of the proposal.
The University Bookstore already records the titles of all used books sold to them and the name of the seller, so that store's activity would not be affected by the ordinance. The Underground Textbook Exchange, however, is among those that would need to change their procedures.
Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, who also sponsors the proposed ordinance, said the University Bookstore has already seen effects since it implemented its textbook reselling policy.
"In one instance they had, they thought the person who was trying to sell the book back to them was kind of suspicious," Judge said. "They asked the person to come back a couple of days later, and they never came back."
Judge also said he and Verveer have found textbook theft rings — not unlike that of Miller and Case — are surprisingly common occurrences.
