TCU has experienced a rise in car burglaries this year as a result of one notorious burglar.

From the beginning of August to November this year, there were 11 car burglaries on campus. Last year, there was only one during the same time period.

“The burglaries did have a huge spike this year,” said Adrian Andrews, assistant vice chancellor of public safety at TCU.

Many on-campus car burglaries were the result of the same individual.

“This gentleman was first brought to our attention by other students who saw him in the parking lot doing something suspicious,” Andrews said.

TCU police kept an eye on the man, who is not a TCU student.

“We’d given him a criminal trespass citation, letting him know that if he ever comes back on our campus again, he would be arrested,” Andrews said.

The burglar did come back to campus. He was caught three weeks ago on the top floor of the Worth Hills parking garage, where he was arrested.

Since his arrest, car burglaries have decreased significantly.

“He wouldn’t come back here if he knew that there was nothing for him to get,” Andrews said.

Andrews urges students to lock their doors and keep their valuables out of sight.

“He wasn’t breaking windows or doing anything like that, he was just checking doors just to see who was open and who he would victimize next,” Andrews said.

Victoria Gonzalez, a junior journalism and social work double major, was the victim of a car burglary at her apartment near campus in mid-September.

“My driver’s door was propped…open,” Gonzalez said. “When I opened it, everything in my car was on my passenger and drivers’ seats.”

Gonzalez said her car was locked and no windows had been broken. The emergency money she kept in her car as well as her dash cam were stolen.

“My car is very old, so I’m not surprised that they were able to get in,” Gonzalez said. “I’m pretty good about locking my car and making sure I hear it.”

Gonzalez’s apartment is gated, but the gates were left open until just a few weeks ago.

“The apartment complex did say that there’s a lot of car break-ins,” Gonzalez said.

Andrews urges students to do their best to prevent car burglaries. Though the TCU Police Department has cameras all throughout the parking lots, it’s best to take precautions.

“Please, lock your doors, and make sure you hide all your valuables,” Andrews said.