University police arrested a 41-year-old man early Thursday morning for allegedly burglarizing a De Neve residential hall room on Sunday.
Just after midnight, Timothy Bell, a Los Angeles resident, was arrested in a De Neve Evergreen lounge for suspected burglary, said UCPD Lt. Mark Littlestone.
Bell matches the description of a man involved in a Sunday burglary that happened in the nearby De Neve Fir residential hall, Littlestone said.
A UCLA student woke up a little before 4 a.m. on Sunday and saw a man standing by her bed in her De Neve Fir dorm room, according to a police report released Monday. The man quickly left, and $20 was stolen from the student’s desk, the report stated.
Shortly after, a man also matching Bell’s description was seen in a residential hall room on the same floor. He left immediately after he was noticed by a student, and nothing was stolen, according to the report.
While patrolling De Neve on Thursday, a community service officer saw Bell in a stairway in Evergreen and called police, Littlestone said.
Bell is currently on parole for a previous burglary and has been ordered to stay away from college campuses. He is being held on burglary charges in a downtown Los Angeles jail, and will be read his formal charges on Monday.
Littlestone said police do not know why Bell targeted the Hill.
Walking back from Bruin Café with his friends, Sean Grant, a second-year computer science student, said he saw police escort Bell to the De Neve turnaround.
“I had no idea that they were coming from my dorm,” said Grant, a resident of De Neve Evergreen. “I was really surprised when I found out that my friend had seen him wandering around our floor. I didn’t know what to think.”
Residential hall burglaries that involve people who are not UCLA students are rare, Littlestone said. There have been nine burglaries in residential halls since January, and the only other arrest was of a UCLA student.
“It is not so much a worry that $20 was stolen, but rather that he was in the dorm room at all,” Littlestone said.
Sofia Cardenas, a first-year fine arts student, said she had not heard of the burglaries. Because she is not as familiar with her neighbors, she said would not have questioned an older man walking through her hall.
“I would just assume it was someone’s dad,” she said.
Cardenas said she has never felt unsafe in Evergreen, but was confused by how Bell got into the building.
Bell might have gained entrance into the buildings by following a student, Littlestone said.
UCPD recommends students be vigilant of whom they let into buildings, and should always be sure to lock doors and windows.
If in a burglary situation, students should comply with the person, take a detailed description of the person’s characteristics and report the situation to the police once they are safe.