After allegedly posing as a UCLA student for at least two years,
Sheldon Ross, 36, was arrested on Dec. 31, 2006 for burglary and
illegally accessing university computers and will be tried on
Thursday for identity fraud, university officials said.
Karen Gentilucci, a university police detective, said this is
the third time UCPD officers have arrested Ross on these charges.
The first was on July 29, 2006 and the second on Dec. 22 of the
same year. She also noted that at the time of Ross’s first
arrest, he had an outstanding felony warrant in Alameda County for
grand-theft credit card fraud.
Ross could not be reached for comment Monday.
In the past years, Ross has infiltrated UCLA life: He wrote an
article for the Bruin Standard and a submission to the Daily Bruin
Viewpoint section, played rugby, and was elected editor of Nommo,
an African American newsmagazine.
Mike O’Connor, operations manager for the UCLA Student
Media Center, said Ross had been breaking into the Student Media
offices for years and that Ross’ arrest over winter break is
a continuation of what he described as long-term behavior.
“He comes in (to the Student Media Office) just before the
doors lock, he hides, he waits for everyone to leave, and then
roams around for the weekend. He’s been doing this for
years,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor plans to testify at Ross’s trial on
Thursday about what he has seen on the security cameras, which
includes Ross “poking around” the Student Media Office,
usually between midnight and 3 a.m., he said. O’Connor said
he believes Ross stole a door from the office, along with a
hard-drive and some money out of the desks. Though Ross is not
visible on security tapes actually stealing the items,
O’Connor said Ross is the only person visible on the tapes
that evening.
He also said there were cups of urine all over the office the
last time Ross was arrested and removed.
“When a person stays in the office all weekend and
doesn’t leave … it has to go somewhere,”
O’Connor said.
O’Connor also said Ross had a “friendly”
relationship with many people in the office several years ago.
“He sounds intelligent, he’s very polite … just
probably not altogether there,” he said.
Ross never received a paycheck as editor of Nommo,
O’Connor said.
“He was never really considered an editor. It became
apparent that he wasn’t really a student,” he said.
Chet Cohen, corporate loss prevention manager for Associated
Students UCLA, said Ross was advised after his previous arrests not
to come back to UCLA, and that he was taken back to jail after he
was spotted again.
Ross also lived at the Alpha Gamma Omega fraternity house two
years ago.
Eddie Looper, the fraternity’s president and a former
Daily Bruin copy editor, said AGO does not require its residents to
be enrolled at UCLA and would not know whether Ross was actually a
student.
Brian Aspell, a fourth-year biochemistry student, roomed with
Ross during the summer of 2005.
Ross would stay in his room all day, downloading podcasts and
other Internet files, Aspell said.
O’Connor said prior to Ross’ most recent arrest,
Student Media officials began noticing an unusually high traffic of
movie- and file-downloading on the IP addresses of certain work
stations where Ross liked to work.
“A week later, we realized ““ it’s obviously
Sheldon again,” he said.
Aspell said the fraternity found items of Ross’ that he
found unsettling, such as equipment to pick locks and a book about
changing one’s name in California.
“It’s just pretty disturbing that I was his
roommate,” he said.