Bike theft, ‘casing’ reports increasing
Reports by DPS and EPD note
that several people have been
arrested after casing bikes
in the campus area
Caron Alarab
Safety/Crime/Transportation Reporter
Department of Public Safety re
ports showed spring break to be a
quiet holiday from most campus
crimes. But in a college communi
ty known for its consistent prob
lems with bike theft, it was no sur
prise to DPS officers that reports
of smspicious subjects “casing”
campus bike racks — checking
locks with the intention of later
stealing the bikes — were received
at different points during the last
week of March.
Although DPS and the Eugene
Police Department reports show a
winter term rise followed by, most
recently, a decline in bike thefts
around campus, two recent arrests
and an increase in community in
volvement make officers antici
pate a further downward trend.
“Regardless, bike theft remains
our biggest problem on campus,”
DPS Sgt. Jeff Breno said.
According to EPD reports, 38
bike thefts were reported in the
campus area in January and Feb
ruary, compared with 22 reports
filed during the same months a
year ago. EPD spokeswoman Kerry
Delf said there is no way to tell if
that trend will continue, but that
bike theft has been more promi
nent in the University area this
year so far.
“We’ve had a lot fewer reports
over the last few weeks,” Breno
said. “Which could have some
thing to do with recent arrests.”
During spring break, DPS re
ceived a report of two suspicious
subjects walking around bike
racks along Columbia Street near
East Campus Housing. When offi
cers contacted the individuals at 1
p.m. on March 26, they found con
trolled substances on 19-year-old
Marcell Devon Rockwell and two
outstanding warrants for 18-year
old Travis Gene Sellers.
Shortly before 2 p.m., EPD offi
cers arrested them. Rockwell was
charged for unlawful possession of
controlled substances, and Sellers
was arrested on the outstanding
warrants. Although Sellers and
Rockwell were apprehended for
violations unrelated to bike theft,
Breno said similar arrests in the
past have lead to information
eventually linking suspects to
the crime.
On March 27, a University em
ployee contacted DPS to report
two suspicious subjects casing the
According to DPS Sgt Jeff Breno, bike theft is the department's biggest problem on campus.
Mark McCambridge Emerald
bike racks along Walton Complex.
When they were contacted by DPS
officers, both individuals were pos
itively identified as employees of a
contractor on campus and the re
port was cleared as unfounded, As
sociate Director Tom Hicks said.
Another suspicious subject was
reported to be casing the bike
racks at Bean Complex the morn
ing of March 29. Once contacted
by DPS officers, the individual had
no explanation for being at the
racks — or on campus — and offi
cers informed him that he would
be cited for trespassing if he was
reported to be casing again.
Although the two most recent
reports did not result in EPD ar
rests or DPS-issued citations,
Hicks said the role played by
those who report suspicious sub
jects and activity on campus is
important.
“Public safety can only be as ef
fective as the diligence of the cam
pus community,” Hicks said. “We
depend upon people to report and
be alert to individuals and activi
ties out of the ordinary and we en
courage community members not
to hesitate in reporting anything
of concern.”
Contact the reporter
at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com.
I axes
continued from page 1
Shawn George, the IRS spokes
woman for Oregon, said each com
pany has a different set of qualifica
tion requirements for the services,
adding that she thought college stu
dents would not have a problem re
ceiving Free File services. If a tax
payer does not qualify for Free File
services, however, they can still e
file with tax companies, such as
H&R Block, for a fee.
Eugene has several locations
where people volunteer to help
others with taxes. Two of the sites
offer e-filing: Super Site, located
at 275 W. 11th Ave., is open from
9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday
through Wednesday and from 1
p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays, and
the Singer Conference Room in
the Eugene Public Library, which
is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on
Saturdays. Both sites accept walk
in appointments, and will be open
through April 15.
E-filing, which requires no addi
tional paperwork to be sent to the
IRS, also speeds up the refund
process. Some businesses offering
e-filing services also provide re
fund anticipation loans. With this
service, a refund check goes back
to the taxpayer within two to
three days. H&R Block offers the
refund anticipation service for a
fee of 35 dollars plus interest.
E-T Tax Service, located in Eu
gene, is one of many businesses
that will not offer. Jayne
Williams, an employee of E-T Tax
Service, said refund anticipation
loans don’t help clients because
they would lose money on inter
est rates that the bank charges.
She added some people don’t re
alize it is a loan from a company,
which means it costs the client
extra money.
“No one can get their money
back in two days,” she said.
George said it takes about 10
days for the IRS to send a refund
check to those who e-file, and also
request that the check be elec
tronically transferred into a
checking or savings account.
According to the Oregon De
partment of Revenue, more than
414,000 Oregon taxpayers filed
their income taxes electronically,
a 20 percent increase over the
previous year. Officials with the
department said they expect to
receive more than half a million e
filed returns this year.
Stacey Weeks, the depart
ment’s alternative filing coordina
tor, said in a press release that
many people prefer e-filing be
cause of convenience.
“It takes an average of one to
two hours to complete a tax
return electronically, versus 10
to 12 hours by pen and paper,”
Weeks said.
For more information on e-filing,
visit http://www.irs.gov/efile/in
dex.html.
Contact the news reporter
atalishaughnessy@dailyemerald.com.
Police
continued from page 1
problems occurring at events, even if
they involve only a few people, rather
than on the participants’ overall mes
sage. He added the individuals causing
problems with police forces are often
not associated with the main event
and are merely “troublemakers.”
Campus protests and events have
been largely peaceful, Department of
Public Safety Interim Director Tom
Hicks said. DPS officers work with or
ganizers of events to ensure a safe en
vironment.
“Generally, there’s been some
preparation beforehand,” Hicks said.
“We first try to gain the cooperation
of the organizers and form agree
ments about what is going to occur at
the event.”
DPS officers make uniformed
showings at scheduled campus
events, and Hicks said officers are
ready to take action if an event is un
safe or if activities disrupt normal Uni
versity business.
“If an order is given by either a DPS
or EPD officer, it is in the students’
best interest to comply,” Hicks said.
“So far, people have been pretty coop
erative. Events have been done in safe
manner and have not disturbed the
University.”
But events scheduled off campus
have not been as peaceful or coopera
tive, Eugene Peace Works Board
Member Phil Weaver said.
“We’ve had a mixed relationship
with police,” Weaver said. “There’s
been a real lack of
genuineness on the part of the police
in terms of their willingness and desire
to work with the anti-war movement.”
Weaver cited EPD’s continued use
of video cameras and surveillance
during marches as a sign of distrust to
ward activists. Instead of attempting
to intimidate participants, he said he
would like to see police officers main
tain safety during marches.
“It’s a political statement by the
police to be breaking up peaceful
protests,” Weaver said. “It would
be very easy for police to remain
peaceful.”
Contact the senior reporter
at aimeerudin@daiiyemerald.com.
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