Mark McIntyre, 53, was arrested on a charge of stealing two laptops and more than $1,000 worth of books from the IUS Bookstore. He was caught in the act by University Police on Nov. 3.

Charlie Edelen, IUS Police chief, said McIntyre’s criminal history is more than 20 pages long.

Edelen said there were mostly nonviolent thefts.

However, he said he had been to prison at least once, and he was caught stealing books at University of Louisville last year.

“This is the first time we know of that we had a professional thief come on to campus,” Edelen said.

The University Police recognized a pattern in the days people were reporting thefts.

Edelen said all McIntyre’s thefts were made around 9 a.m., and the last two thefts were made on consecutive Thursdays.

IUS Police were ready with officers in plain clothes at the bookstore and officers in the parking lot.

They recognized McIntyre’s beat-up, black Volkswagen Jetta from previous reports of a suspicious vehicle and brought McIntyre in for questioning after they spotted him heading toward his car.

“It was really good police work for them to notice that,” Edelen said about University Police making a connection between McIntyre and the vehicle.

The two previous thefts involved McIntyre casually waiting at the University Grounds coffee shop, buying water and playing on his cell phone.

In both cases, students left their backpacks unattended and McIntyre stole them while the students were away.

Both backpacks contained student laptops. The first theft occurred on Oct. 12 and the second on Oct. 27.

Hannah Huebener, nursing sophomore, visits the University Grounds coffee shop frequently and said she was surprised when she heard about the thief.

“I never think twice to leave my backpack, especially in a classroom or the cafeteria,” Huebener said.

Edelen said University Police were able to catch McIntyre on surveillance videos.

However, he was scratching his eyes and avoiding the cameras, so they were not able to get a clear picture.

A coffee shop clerk was working during both first thefts, and was able to give University Police a description of the thief.

“This is the first time we had a good description,” Edelen said. “We knew we had a repeat offender, so we did what any good campus would do and caught him in the act.”

After the theft from the bookstore, University Police brought McIntyre in for questioning.

“After interviewing him for a while, he gave a full confession to all three [thefts],” Edelen said.

McIntyre was charged with three felonies, receiving stolen property twice and theft. He was then sent to Floyd County Jail.

“I always thought IUS was very secure,” Huebener said. “A lot of people are honest, but I guess there’s one in every crowd.”

Edelen described McIntyre as a professional thief and said it is rare to have this kind of repeat theft on campus. However, he said there have been thefts similar to this in the past.

Calling it a crime of opportunity, Edelen said if students leave their belongings out and walk away, they can expect them to be stolen.

“Even though we have low crime, you still can’t leave an $800 or $900 piece of equipment and expect it to be there when you come back,” Edelen said.

BRITTANY POWELL

Staff

bripowel@ius.edu