Students to change habits following locker room burglary

By Robbie Vaglio and Olivia Moody

Published Sep 19, 2018

The thief was identified via security footage in the practice facility. Image courtesy of TCU Police.

Multiple items were stolen from TCU Football’s locker room Tuesday, Sept. 11 while the team was preparing for their game against Ohio State.

Several cell phones and Beats headphones were stolen from the player’s individual lockers.

TCU has taken extra precaution in the past to ensure a situation like this will never happen. Head coach Gary Patterson said the team has lock boxes in their lockers to keep their valuable items secure.

TCU Police have identified a suspect via security cameras in the team’s practice facility, the Walsh Complex at the Meyer-Martin Athletic Complex.

The suspect stole multiple cell phones and Beats headphones from the locker room. Image courtesy of TCU Police.

“We think it occurred between the beginning and end of football practice,” Associate Vice Chancellor of Public Safety Adrian Andrews said. “We have a two or three-hour time span when the person committed the crime.”

Andrews and the rest of TCU PD were unable to provide any additional information regarding the ongoing investigation.

For students to prevent a situation like this from happening again in the future, Andrews recommends all students should lock their dorm rooms.

“I will make sure to keep things locked and stored away from being out in the open,” said junior business major Maddy Potts. “I want to make sure I have all of my things tucked away. Things that are expensive or special to me I don’t want to flash those items around.”

TCU security keeps students safe but needs improvement in parking lots or other public spaces, according to Kaycei Harvey.

“When my vehicle got broken into, at least five other cars got broken into as well,” said Harvey. “Whenever I reported the situation to TCU Police, the cameras that they have in the parking lot only had surveillance on a limited space in the parking lot and nobody was ever found for breaking into all of the cars that night.”

The same suspect is a person of interest in a similar theft from SMU Football’s locker room, but the SMU Police Department was unable to make a comment.

The thief is still at-large. TCU PD requests anyone with information about the burglar to contact Detective McCormack at (817)257-7050. If the suspect is spotted on campus, call TCU PD immediately at (817)257-7777.

Students should also download the FrogShield App to notify TCU PD about the suspect. This free app will direct students directly to the police dispatcher with the click of a button.