Police find vending machine vandal suspect
The suspect used a crowbar
in attempts to break in to
campus vending machines;
damages have cost $2,100
Caron Alarab
Safety/Crime/Transportation Reporter
The Department of Public Safety
has received 25 reports of vandal
ized vending machines since Sep
tember 2002, with more than
$2,100 in damage to units on cam
pus. But after months of investiga
tion and a long day of close-calls, a
foot pursuit and the capture of a
suspect, DPS and Eugene Police De
partment officers said they have
identified and charged an individual
linked to several campus reports of
damage or theft.
The suspect, who has been re
leased from custody, is not consid
ered responsible for all of the re
ported vandalism, Associate
Director Tom Hicks said. However,
DPS has not received any new re
ports on campus since the suspect’s
apprehension.
“But maybe that’s just pure coin
cidence,” Hicks said.
Since fall term, DPS received
eight vandalized phone card ma
chine reports — all of which oc
curred in the EMU — equaling
$1,700 in damage. Approximately
$400 in damage has been estimated
as a result of 15 vandalized vending
machine reports, which have oc
curred in the Education Building,
Gerlinger Annex, PLG, Hamilton
Complex and Huestis, Pacific,
Straub and Willamette halls. One
gumball machine and one video
game machine in the EMU have also
been vandalized, both of which in
curred unknown damage costs.
The suspect linked to at least four
of these incidents, 38-year-old John
Charles Graves, was spotted attempt
ing to vandalize a vending machine
with a crowbar in PLC at about 5
p.m. March 8. The instructor who
witnessed the incident reported that
Graves fled the scene with a black
duffle bag before the arrival of EPD
officers, who proceeded to contact
DPS. DPS officers informed them of a
recent investigation regarding sever
al vandalism reports linked to a simi
larly described suspect.
An hour later, a DPS officer called
for assistance during a foot pursuit
of Graves, who was spotted at Agate
Hall. Before he fled the scene in his
vehicle, Graves dropped a crowbar
wrapped in a jacket. Lane County
Sheriffs officers later apprehended
Graves after he tried to hide in
bushes along Interstate-5 in the
Glen wood Area.
DPS positively identified Graves
from the Agate Hall pursuit, and he
was logged at Lane County Jail for
two charges of burglary.
The next afternoon, DPS officers
retrieved a duffle bag that matched
the description reported at the
PLC incident in the brush along a
trail at Laurel Hill, northeast of
Moon Mountain. EPD spokes
women Pam Olshanski said the bag
contained an undisclosed amount
of money, as well as a collection of
“burglary tools.”
After Graves was apprehended,
DPS was able to link him to several
burglary and theft cases, including
vandalism to a phone card machine
in January from which fingerprints
were obtained, EPD Lt. Herb
Homer said.
“He got so comfortable coming
here without getting caught that he
just got bolder,” he added.
Graves was released from Lane
County Jail shortly after his arrest
because the jail system in Eugene is
understaffed and overflowing,
Homer said.
“If the individual poses no physi
cal threat, the jail does not hold on
to him for very long,” he said.
The manager of Canteen Vending
— the local company responsible
for installing, servicing and repair
ing damaged machines at the Uni
versity for more than 20 years—
confirmed Hicks’ assertion that no
vending machines have been van
dalized on campus for the past
three weeks.
“We really applaud DPS for their
investigations of these crimes,” Dis
trict Operations Manager Dave King
said. “These guys have really been
bulldogs on this thing.”
King said the task of servicing
machine vandalism varies greatly
from assessing small damage to tak
ing entire units to the junkyard.
“Some are totally destroyed,” he
added. “And the University doesn’t
cover the cost — we do.”
DPS officers advise students and
faculty to report all suspicious sub
jects, activity or evidence of vend
ing machine vandalism as soon as
they are witnessed.
Contact the reporter
at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com.
Photo illustration: Adam Amato and Mark McCambridge Emerald
DPS has received 25 reports of vending machine vandalism since last September,
and DPS and EPD have tracked down a suspect.
y
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