UC Irvine Police on Trail of Campus Computer Thieves

UC Irvine police are on the trail of a ring of thieves that has broken into dozens of offices during the last year and made off with $120,000 in computer and electronic equipment through underground tunnels that link university buildings.

The thieves, who have struck mainly during holiday breaks and over long weekends when few people are on campus, are believed to include students and university employees, according to UCI Police Lt. William Miller. They have master keys--perhaps obtained in previous break-ins--and consistently take the most expensive computer equipment.

The thieves are believed to have entered and escaped in many cases through a labyrinth of 10-foot-wide utility tunnels, which provide access for repair and maintenance of electrical, cooling and other systems. Police found an empty beer can propping open a door leading to the underground tunnel system Dec. 27, when workers discovered $17,200 worth of equipment had been stolen from offices in the Social Sciences Tower over the Christmas weekend.

“They know computers and they know their way around the utility tunnels,” Miller said Tuesday. “We’re dealing with some very bright people.”

Police believe they know who is responsible for the thefts, and soon will turn over evidence collected in a yearlong investigation to the Orange County district attorney, Miller said. More than six individuals are suspected in the thefts, which have occurred mainly in the Social Sciences Tower and Administration Hall.

The thefts occurred on 14 different nights or weekends, and the largest single take totaled $34,000 in equipment stolen from the word-processing center and other offices in the social sciences building.

The offices targeted by the thieves have included those of Dennis Aigner, dean of the Graduate School of Management; Dennis Galligani, assistant vice chancellor of academic affairs, and Kathleen Kunz, finance director for the Office of University Advancement.

The cost of the break-ins, which began in February, 1988, is much greater than just the value of the missing equipment, university officials said. Research and other data stored on computer discs in some cases may never be replaced.

“I had an entire book on my system. It’s a book I have been writing with two colleagues for 3 years,” said Donald Hoffman, an associate professor of psychology and computer science. “Fortunately, I have a backup copy. You learn to keep backups for everything--almost. I had phone lists and my other miscellaneous data that I hadn’t gotten around to copying. And there is no way to replace the hundreds of hours of work that was lost.”

Hoffman’s office in the social sciences building was broken into twice even though he moved after the first theft, secured his equipment with steel cables and changed his office lock. He estimates that he lost $30,000 in computer equipment purchased with money he got from research grants. The university has reimbursed him for much of what was stolen, but he has not replaced all of the computers so that his office will be a less inviting target in the future.

No Sign of Break-in

Aigner, the most recent victim, discovered that his Toshiba laptop computer and a disc drive valued at $3,000 were missing from his office in the business management building on April 20. There was no sign of a break-in, leading police to believe that whoever stole the computer had a key to Aigner’s office. The theft is believed to have occurred over the weekend of April 15.

“I hadn’t had the computer long enough to put much in it, so I lucked out,” Aigner said. “Security is always a problem at universities because buildings are wide open. Anyone can get in.”

If the thievery is not halted, it could have another adverse effect. Researchers such as Hoffman, who conducts mathematical studies of human and robotic perception, may find it too costly to conduct research at UCI.

“I am under contract to perform research,” said Hoffman, who holds grants from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. “If I lose $30,000 in equipment, I can’t perform. If this is repeated, I’d have to think seriously about the university environment as a place to do research.”

Damage is still being assessed at the word-processing center in the social sciences building, where thieves broke in last May and again during the long Thanksgiving weekend. Several computers and components were stolen, and the loss of data stored in the computers was compounded by the fact that duplicate discs kept in the same room also were taken, said Cheryl Larsson, supervisor of the center.

“A lot of drawings and graphs that were being prepared for books and articles by faculty members were lost,” she said. “Needless to say, we don’t keep our backups in the same room anymore.”

Galligani said that whoever slipped into his administration building office after he left one Friday evening in February, 1988, took Apple Macintosh computer components worth $2,000, but left behind other brands of computer equipment.

Taped Door Lock

“They very cleverly taped the outside door latch open during the day,” said Galligani, who has since added a lock to the interior door of his office suite. “They only took Mac equipment. A colleague of mine jokes that he likes his IBM computer because no one will steal it.”

Although videocassette recorders, telephones and answering machines have also been stolen, the thieves favor computers and laser printers--particularly popular Macintosh equipment, according to police. There apparently have been no witnesses and no distinguishable fingerprints to lead authorities to the culprits, Miller said.

However police, who through an informant have learned that the stolen equipment has been resold locally, have repurchased one computer and an answering machine. Tracing the trail of the stolen goods has led to the thieves, Miller said.

Additional security measures also have been instituted on campus. Locks are replaced on a rotating basis throughout the university, and some locks have been taken off master keys so that only office occupants can enter with a key, he said.