Rash of Crime Hits Concordia University

River Forest police and officials at are working to solve a crime wave that struck the campus in recent days.

As many as seven incidents of burglary, criminal damage to autos and thefts have occurred on campus, at 7400 Augusta St.

Many of the incidents took place in the university garage, and police and campus officials are combing through surveillance video to learn more about a van spotted on campus which they believe is connected with the crimes. 

Deputy Chief Craig Rutz said he's never seen this many incidents in the garage, which has a sophisticated security system.

Investigators believe the suspects who broke into the cars knew the garage was under surveillance because of the way the van was situated next to the car getting ranscacked.

“That made it difficult to see what was happening,” he said.  

The incidents that took place in the garage include:

• An Apple Mac Book laptop computer was stolen Dec. 16 from a 1999 Ford Explorer parked in the garage. There was no sign of forced entry to the vehicle. Estimated loss was $1,300.
• Car stereo equipment was stolen Dec. 16 from a 2002 Dodge Ram pickup. There were no signs of forced entry to the vehicle. Loss was estimated at $700.
• Car stereo equipment valued at more than $500 was stolen from a 200 Ford SUV on Dec. 15. Entry was gained by breaking out the rear passenger side window.
• Car stereo equipment was stolen Dec. 15 from a 1999 GMC Savana parked in the garage. It is uncertain how entry was gained to the vehicle. Estimated value was $280.
• An 18-inch gouge was scratched sometime between Dec. 3 and Dec. 10 into the passenger side door of an unattended 2009 Hyundai Accent. There is no estimated value on the damage.

Elsewhere on campus, a Gibson electric guitar, case and strap valued at more than $900 were stolen from the campus chapel. The theft took place over Thanksgiving break and was reported Dec. 12. The serial number was entered into state and national computer systems.

Authorities also reported that Brohm Hall saw its third burglary or attempted break-in in about a month. Between someone entered an office and attempted to force entry to a locked file cabinet. Just three days earlier sometime broke into that cabinet and took $1,920 worth of postage stamps from the postal sub-branch.  In , someone tried to get money from the ATM machine in that building, police said.   

Efforts to reach Tim Margis, director of public safety at Concordia, were unsuccessful.