While about 90,000 fans were in Tiger Stadium, unattended chairs, electronics and ice chests filled with beer were left under tents, and fans’ vehicles were parked alongside roads around campus. Maj. Lawrence Rabalais, LSU Police Department spokesman, said the police received three reports of on-campus property damage Saturday — two of which were related to damaged or keyed vehicles.Typically, Rabalais said, there is one incident reported per game. But the higher number was expected because of the increase in the amount of people. Saturday’s game had a paid attendance of 93,039 — the largest in Tiger Stadium history.When about 50,000 people are outside the stadium during the game, crime is expected, Rabalais said. He said when parking on campus before a football game, sometimes people get to a parking spot at the same time and fight over who gets the space.Sgt. Don Kelly, Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman, said a report was filed Saturday for a vehicle damaged in FedEx Kinko’s parking lot on West State Street. The doors and rearview mirrors were damaged, Kelly said. Anthony Hart, FedEx Kinko’s manager, said one employee worked Saturday evening, but he didn’t see the accident and couldn’t confirm if it was an Alabama fan’s vehicle. Andrew DeMoss, economics junior, said he always feels safe parking his car in random places around campus, including back streets during home football games. “A lot of times, I walk [to my car] by myself,” DeMoss said. “It usually feels safe.” Rabalais said theft on campus has gone down during recent football games, and stealing from tailgates is “not as popular as it has been in the past.”No incidents of theft were reported at the Alabama game, but two people were arrested for stealing an ice chest at the Tulane game last week, Rabalais said. Reid LeJeune, history sophomore, said while his iPod was hooked up to the speakers at his tailgate, his friend’s iPod was stolen at the Alabama game while people were still at the tent. LeJeune said he was surprised no one noticed until after it was gone. Eric Norman, associate dean of Student Advocacy and Accountability, said he hasn’t received reports of students committing crimes on gamedays this semester. “I’m not going to get reports unless it’s a student,” he said. Rabalais said most of the reported problems are from people visiting campus, not students. Most people aren’t going to report stolen beer or food, especially if they are a student under 21, Norman said. CJ Smith, biology senior, said he caught people stealing his ice chest when he was walking back from the game two years ago.Smith said he asked the guy if it was his ice chest, and he said “yes.” After he told the guy his name was written on the ice chest, he quickly gave it back. Smith said he hasn’t had any problems this year with people trying to steal from his tailgate.—-Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]
‘Bama game brings increase in vandalism reports
November 11, 2008