A man was booked into jail for felony and misdemeanor theft charges after stealing materials from a U construction site.
A couple of witnesses observed two men taking two sheets of metal from the Warnock Engineering Building construction site on Feb. 28.
The two men placed the metal sheets — valued at $1,600 — into the trunk of a white taxi and drove away.
According to the police report, the two witnesses — one a member of the U custodial staff and the other affiliated with the college of engineering — obtained the taxi number and license plate and called the U Police Department.
The taxi company was contacted and within the same hour, the Salt Lake Police Department located a suspect near Pioneer Park.
The suspect, Mark Holland, was then transferred and detained by U police until an arrest was made and Holland was transported to an interview with investigators.
When Holland was arrested, officers found multiple identification cards they believed to be stolen. However, Holland is not affiliated with the U, U Police Sgt. Lynn Rohland said.
Holland was then put into jail and the two metal sheets were later recovered from Metro Recyclers.
This incident was not the first time materials have been stolen from construction sites at the U. Copper wiring was taken from the Marriott Library construction area on two separate occasions last month.
In one incident, 400 feet of 3-ought copper wire was stolen from the library site. Campus police were able to follow a trail left in the snow by a cart, which officers believed was the culprit’s carrying device. The trail led to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on 900 East, but no direct evidence was found.
On another occasion, 400 feet of copper wiring was taken from the third floor of the library construction site.
The two stolen sets of wiring were valued at $9,000. The materials stolen from campus construction sites do not affect U budgets. Instead, they take away from the construction companies’ money, said Preston Shepard, construction superintendent with Oakland, overseeing the library renovation.
The wire has not been recovered and there are no leads to any suspects yet. Any information, however, helps solve theft cases, Rohland said.
“It’s very important that people who see anything call us immediately — even if it’s just a description or a license number,” she said. “It increases chances of recovery.”
If you have any information or have witnessed a campus theft call U police at 585-2677.