During the early morning hours of Sept. 19, crime hit the heart of the St. Edward’s University’s campus. Four university vehicles had their tires slashed.  

A university police car had its tires slashed between 3:30 and 4 a.m., while sitting in the faculty parking lot, between the Alumni Gym and Holy Cross Hall, according to Peace Officer Michael Bradburn.

A Campus Ministry van was also vandalized in parking lot B next to Doyle Hall. A golf cart and a John Deere Gator had their tires slashed outside of Premont Hall. The carts were left unattended by custodians for a 15 minute window.

The University Police Department (UPD) does not have any potential motives or named suspects.  However, there was a man seen on camera entering the first floor of the Robert and Pearle Ragsdale Center around 4 a.m.

He did not have a proper student ID to get into the building after hours, when the doors are locked, but he was let in by either another student or a custodian staff member. Investigator Bradburn says it is currently unknown if the man seen on camera is or is not related to the case.

UPD received many reports of the incidents on the night of Sept. 19. 

One of the first reports came from Officer Tim Beach. He noticed the three tires slashed on the UPD car at around 4 a.m. 

When the custodians first realized the tires on their vehicles had been slashed, they immediately notified their supervisor.

The custodian supervisor contacted UPD concerning their two vehicles. UPD immediately started looking for a suspect on campus, realizing that more cars might be vandalized. While patrolling for suspects, officers noticed the Campus Ministry van with flat tires.

There were no student cars involved and student cars have not been targeted, but students should be careful, according to UPD. 

 “But students should be encouraged to lock their doors 

and remove any valuables as they would do in any parking lot, on or off campus,” Bradburn said.

Bradburn also wants to let students and faculty know that if they observe a suspicious person or activity to contact UPD immediately. 

For example,  this past Saturday night, at around 3 a.m., UPD received a call about a suspicious man leaving a box near Jo’s Coffee Shop, and while it turned out to be just baking supplies, it’s what UPD says is a prime example of when to contact them to decrease incidents on campus.

UPD says that there is not a history of tire slashing on campus, but students are still worried.

“I don’t want anything to happen to my car. I sometimes feel that my car isn’t safe on campus,” freshman Pablo Nasta said.

UPD said that nothing has changed on campus since the incident, but they continue their heavy patrols.

University police provides continuous patrol via patrol vehicles, bicycle, golf cart and on foot. The police dispatch also monitors various cameras looking for suspicious activity. Even with all these patrols, students still know to take common sense precautions.

Teresa Hall resident Megan Birdsell says this after the recent crime, “It caught my attention that I shouldn’t be out by myself late at night, and it just reinforces my general rule to have someone with me when it’s dark.”

Another student, Matthew Dechant, has a different view on the crime. He believes that it was just an “isolated incident and event” and that “everyone should just continue to live normally and not in fear but be aware of their surroundings.”

Anyone with information about this crime is urged to contact investigator Mike Bradburn at [email protected], or any University Police officer.