A man tried to steal the underwear and jeans of a few U students this weekend.
Madeline Clawson, an undeclared junior, and Jayme Jensen, a junior in pre-nursing, were asleep in their home near 1800 South and Foothill Boulevard on Saturday morning when someone tried to break in. The burglar apparently tried to get in through the window and sliding glass door, but when neither opened, he broke the front door’s lock, walked inside and stole the women’s underwear and jeans.
“I’m not sure how long he was around until (Clawson) felt someone touching her legs,” Jensen said.
The man’s touching woke up Clawson around 4:30 a.m. When Clawson opened her eyes and saw a man at the foot of her bed, he immediately crawled out of her room. She ran into Jensen’s room and told her what had happened. Clawson said she thought a friend was playing a prank on her, but then the two students heard someone rummaging through their possessions downstairs and saw that someone had broken in through the front door.
They pushed a bed frame against the bedroom door and Jensen called her father.
The Salt Lake City Police Department sent one officer to their residence, but no one except the girls was inside by the time he arrived. The officer was taking the girls’ report when they heard a rustle in the bushes. The burglar was leaving the house next door with a laundry basket. When he realized he’d been spotted, the burglar ditched the basket, full of the neighbor’s swimsuits and underwear. The officer gave chase, but the thief got away.
The burglar is described as a while male, about 6’2″ and 190 to 200 lbs. with short to almost shaved hair. He has no glasses, visible facial hair or tattoos.
This isn’t the first U-related attempted underwear theft.
Last June, a woman staying in the student apartment Benchmark Plaza Building 821 for a conference reported that a man broke into her room and tried to steal her underwear. The man was gone before officers arrived. She reported that the man appeared to be an athlete.
SLCPD has not contacted U Police to cooperate with them on a potentially related case, said U Police Capt. Lynn Mitchell. U Police have not been able to confirm if the athletic man the woman saw last June is the same large man who stole Jensen and Crawson’s clothing last weekend.
“If (SLCPD) finds a tie and wants to work with us on it, we’d be happy to,” Mitchell said.
