Stolen computers
recovered
Police suspect Medical Center employee of theft
By Cari Brooks
and Donna Wong
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
A string of Medical Center computer burglaries may soon be
solved. Last Wednesday, university police arrested a UCLA Medical
Center employee they suspect to be a computer thief.
In the early morning hours last week, an unnamed professor
spotted a suspicious looking man in Young Hall and a computer
monitor in a trash can, police said. The professor then immediately
notified university police by phone.
The professor who discovered Borislav Zelman, the 30-year-old
medical employee, first asked Zelman what he was doing in Young
Hall.
In response Zelman said that he was "taking care of business,"
Det. Mark Littlestone said.
When the police arrived, they found Zelman with a stolen
computer and other goods at the loading dock near Slichter Hall.
After questing him, police recovered master keys to several
buildings at UCLA.
The police arrested Zelman at 5:15 a.m. and then released him on
$10,000 bail, police said.
After searching Zelman’s apartment and his parent’s garage,
university police recovered an estimated $150,000 in stolen
property, Capt. Alan Cueba said.
Stolen equipment varies from computer monitors to scanners and
software, Cueba added.
"We are still investigating and recovering stolen goods," said
UCLA Sgt. Jim Vandenberg.
UC police believe that the property recovered from the Zelman
burglary may be linked with a series of robberies in the Medical
Center from middle to late 1994.
Cueba described the find as a major recovery of stolen computer
goods. As of now, the police have settled nine burglaries by
matching missing computer equipment with the recovered property
from this case.
Charges will be pressed against Zelman and other suspects
believed to be involved, police said. The police are still
investigating and are hoping to uncover more property in other
locations.