Instances of petty crime increase at ETSU toward the end of every semester.
Usually books are the targets, but money laying around will suit a thief just fine. All a thief needs is an opportunity, as ETSU sophomore Cassie Vlastelic found out several weeks ago.
“I was playing racketball in the Mini-Dome and set my backpack outside the court,” Vlastelic said. “When I got done it wasn’t there.”
“I had everything in there,” she said.
Vlastelic’s black Northface backpack was setting among others along a wall in the Mini-Dome when it was stolen. Vlastelic not only had her books, papers and other school work in her backpack, but also her wallet, which had about $27 in it.
The money was all the thief or thieves took, although she was left a penny, Vlastelic said.
When she found her backpack to be missing, Vlastelic’s racquetball teacher took her to Public Safety, who recovered the backpack from a men’s locker room a short time later.
Public Safety officer Michael Orr said that crimes of opportunity like this one happen a lot around Christmas and at the end of every semester anyway.
“Petty theft increases around the end of the semester,” Orr said. “The biggest thing right now are the books. You can get a lot of money for book returns.”
In Vlastelic’s instance, her books were not taken. She is extremely grateful for that. In fact, the books and her schoolwork were really all she was worried about.
“That’s a lot of work,” she said. “I have it all in one binder. I had papers due and tests, and it was all in one notebook.”
Orr said that something the university is doing to reduce stolen books is requiring a current ETSU ID to return books to the ETSU Bookstore, however, that is not the only place or way to sell books. They could be sold privately or to other bookstores around the city.
It is not necessarily a student or even someone associated with ETSU who will steal things on campus. Orr said that people will just wonder onto the campus, looking for an opportunity to steal something, once again, it is usually books.
“Someone leaves books laying around and they (thieves) think ‘Hey, easy money’,” Orr said.
To prevent crimes like this Orr recommends marking books in some way so that if they are stolen and recovered, they can be traced to the victim. He also said that students should not leave their valuables laying around, lock them up if possible or just do not bring them if you can not watch them.
“Prevention-wise, don’t leave stuff laying around unattended,” Orr said.
Vlastelic said that she did not think her bag would be stolen and now she is more cautious.
“My stuff has been stolen before, but I guess you have to guard it,” she said. “I realize there are people like that.”
Vlastelic said that she is not really that mad at the person, perhaps they needed the money, she is just glad to have her assignments back.
“I was mad before but I was happy when I got my stuff back,” she said. “It’s stupid, really stupid to steal. Just get a job.

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