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Police nab pair of campus thieves

BY GABE NELSON
Daily News Editor
Published September 18, 2007

Two men are on the hook for a series of thefts from campus buildings, and police say the thieves may have committed more crimes than those.

The men, identified by police as David Small, 29, of Ann Arbor and John Holbrook, 48, of Ypsilanti were each arraigned Saturday for allegedly moving from campus to campus building stealing backpacks and wallets.

Five of the counts were for illegal use of a financial transaction device - which usually means a stolen credit card - and two counts were for larceny in a building, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown said.

As of Monday, the men hadn't posted the $25,000 bond and were still in jail, Brown said.

They were arrested on Thursday afternoon after staff in the Chemistry Building and Palmer Commons called the Department of Public Safety to report that two men were moving from floor to floor with no apparent purpose, Brown said.

Police made contact with men matching descriptions of the suspects outside Palmer Commons and arrested them on outstanding arrest warrants. While processing the suspects, police found evidence that linked the men to thefts from campus buildings.

The men were accused of committing three crimes in the last week. Police say they stole two backpacks - one Sept. 10 from the Medical Science Unit II building and another Sept. 12 from the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building.

A staff member from the Kresge Hearing Research Institute called DPS on Friday to report that her wallet had been stolen the day before and that her credit card had been used. Brown said the men are suspected of using the multiple stolen credit cards.

Holbrook has several previous convictions for illegal use of a financial transaction device as well as breaking and entering. Small has a prior conviction for retail fraud.