A good night’s rest was greeted with a rude awakening for a group of students; a burglar had entered their apartment while they were asleep and stolen their wallets and other valuables.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, several credit cards, cash and an Apple MacBook were stolen in the Jan. 22 burglary at The Village At Science Drive and no one has been arrested for the crime.
Spencer Simon, UCF junior majoring in marketing, said the incident happened in his apartment between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. He said his credit card was used 21 times at various places in the area including a Walmart, Wawa and AutoZone.
The incident report states that the burglar entered through the unlocked front door.
One of the roommates’ girlfriend told deputies that she left the apartment that night but had “no way to lock the door herself.” She also told deputies that she informed another roommate that she was leaving, but that the roommate was already in bed and may not have realized to lock the door.
When Simon and his roommate woke up the next morning around 11 a.m., they noticed their wallets were missing from the dining room table near the door.
Their wallets contained credit cards, drivers licenses and other miscellaneous items. Ruiz’s wallet also contained $70 cash. Other items stolen were Simon’s iPad and another roommate’s Apple MacBook Pro.
Soon after discovering their wallets were missing, Simon and Ruiz received calls from their banks and credit card companies about suspicious activities on their accounts.
According to the incident report, Simon’s American Express Card was used 21 times that morning between 5 a.m. and 12 p.m., when he canceled his card.
The incident report states that the suspect is a white male between the ages of 22-28, 5’8″-5’11” and 140-160 lbs.
Just days after this crime, a string a burglaries was reported at Northgate Lakes. Residents told deputies their doors were left unlocked and a suspect come into their apartments while they slept.
Christopher Bryan Woods, 27, was arrested on Feb. 14 in connection to a burglary at Northgate Lakes. Deputies said that they are investigating Woods to see if he was involved in any other burglaries in the area.
There is no word if Woods was connected to this crime.
