Nearly a dozen property crimes, such as burglaries and thefts, have hit the Los Medanos College Pittsburg campus in the last two months.
This reflects an increase of crime over the last calendar year, on the Pittsburg campus.
“Property crimes across East Contra Costa County are on the rise. This would include LMC,” Lt. Ryan Huddleston said on the increase of crime at the campus.
The college has seen four attempted burglaries and thefts since the end of October alone, forcing campus law enforcement to increase police presence in certain areas, according to Huddleston.
The building hit most has been the Kinesiology and Athletic Complex with three attempted break-ins by one suspect who was attempting to use the shower inside, according to Huddleston. The description of the daily claim log adds the person arrested had possession of methamphetamine and the tools to use such drug.
Huddleston said police services identified a weakness with the design of the doors that led to the Kinesiology building. Changes were made to the doors as maintenance and operations followed soon after.
A vehicle theft also took place near the Kinesiology building where a police services golf cart was taken and seen on security video driving away.
However, last month a theft occurred in Professor Nick Garcia’s office in which suspects made off with computers, hard drives, monitors and other electronics after using a crowbar to smash the glass of the office door.
All of these crimes have occurred in the past month with more crimes not currently on the crime log that predate its Oct. 31 cutoff. They also have had their investigations suspended except for the suspect breaking into the Kinesiology building as he was arrested for forcible entry as well as possession of burglary entry, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Property crimes are on an uptick this year increasing from 38 in 2022 to 41 as of the LMC Experience’s print deadline, with two weeks remaining in the semester. The trend of crime has slowly begun to creep up over the last few years. In 2021, the campus saw just 26 property crimes, however the campus was not fully open due to the pandemic.
Huddleston wants to reassure that campus police are working on each of these cases and to make the campus a safe environment.
He urges “When leaving your office, vehicle, or workspace, make sure all valuables are locked and secure. Do not leave valuables in plain sight.”
