Mercer Police have responded to 16 crimes on Mercer’s campus so far in 2019, according to reports provided to The Cluster on Feb. 25. Car break-ins constituted the majority of crimes.
Entering auto: Adams St.
The first car break-in of 2019 occurred in the Adams St. parking lot Jan. 11.
“I was flagged down by (the student) concerning a purse found under a vehicle. The purse’s contents appeared to have been emptied onto the pavement. There were various articles of clothing with hangers strown (sic) around different vehicles on the same row,” according to the police report by Officer Michael Kondorf.
The report said another vehicle in the lot had been left unlocked and also rummaged through, although nothing was taken.
“At the police station, I reviewed video of the Adams St. parking lot, but the camera did not cover the area where the vehicle was parked,” Kondorf wrote in the report.
Entering auto and license plate theft: Legacy Hall
Two of the break-ins occurred in the parking lot behind Legacy Hall. Reporting Officer Charlie Platt responded to a case Feb. 13 and reported that a student had left their car locked overnight and returned to find a pair of sunglasses and $5 in coins missing.
Officer Matt McCranie responded to another case in the Legacy lot that afternoon. A student “stopped by the Mercer Police office to report an entering auto” and said $9 had been stolen, but while the report also indicated 35 “other” objects had been stolen, no further details were provided.
A student called the Mercer Police office Jan. 4 to report the license plate had been stolen off their car while parked in the Legacy Hall lot, according to another report by Platt.
Entering auto: Campus apartments
Platt wrote in a Feb. 12 report that he responded to a break-in behind the Lofts at Mercer Village that had occurred overnight, but the report did not specify whether or not the car belonged to a student. Eighty dollars, a credit card and cologne were reported as stolen from the vehicle.
Platt responded to another break-in Feb. 21 to a call from a student who had parked his car
near the Garden Apartments over the weekend.
“He noticed that someone had entered his auto on the passenger side and damaged the passenger door handle and also the backseat wiring cover. No items were taken from the vehicle,” Platt wrote in the report.
Another student’s car was broken into near on-campus apartments on Jan. 18, but Responding Officer Wesley Hillard did not specify which building in the report provided to The Cluster.
Entering auto: Connell Student Center
Responding Officer Randy Wilkes wrote in a Feb. 12 report that he was waved down in the Connell Student Center parking lot by the complainant who said their car had been broken into. The report indicated the victim was not a student, but no further details were provided.
Entering auto: University Center
A student reported a car break-in and the theft of a pair of headphones valued at $110, according to a report by Officer Wilkes Jan. 10. The report said that the student’s vehicle had been “unsecured.”
Entering auto: Mercer Law School
Officer Sandra Bryant reported Feb. 15 that she observed a car had been broken into. The car did not belong to a student, according to the report.
“While patrolling at the law school, I ... noticed the driver side door not properly (closed),” Bryant wrote in the report. The report indicated 200 “other” objects stolen, but no further information was provided.
Entering auto: Businesses on Mercer University Drive
A vehicle belonging to Budget Auto Rental was broken into while parked outside the Hilton Garden Inn on Mercer’s campus Jan. 17, according to a report by Platt.
“The driver door window was shattered and the center console was entered,” the report said. “There was nothing in the vehicle missing.”
Officer Tim Trevillion responded to an entering auto call from the TownePlace Suites Marriott Hotel across from campus Feb. 10.
The passenger side window was broken, and “one small black canvas bag containing receipts, checkbook and (miscellaneous) papers valued at $50 had been taken,” according to the report.
The car did not belong to a student, but the report did not indicate who it belonged to.
Theft by taking
A student reported to Officer Gus Moore Jan. 11 that someone had stolen $150 cash from their backpack while they were playing an intramural game in the University Center courts.
Another student said Jan. 12 that $60 cash, a $50 Visa gift card, a Synovus credit card and
their social security card had been stolen from them in Hawkins Arena, along with 3 rings
and a watch totaling $500 in value and clothing amounting to $300, according to a report
by Wilkes.
Mercer Police also responded to a case of credit card fraud on campus Feb. 6 involving $2,150 and a case of sexual battery in one of the Lofts Feb. 11, both affecting students. No further information was provided for either incident.
Police Blotter: Car break-ins, theft by taking, sexual battery and more
