Man wanted for stealing from TCU football players

Image 1 of 3

Texas Christian University police are looking for a thief who stole thousands of dollars’ worth of electronics from the university’s football players.

Clear surveillance video gives a good look at the man police want to find and investigators think he might be responsible for another similar crime.

The suspect was caught on security cameras outside the locker rooms at the school’s athletic complex a week ago. He went in and walked out 10 minutes later, TCU police said.

While TCU football players were at practice getting ready to take on Ohio State, TCU police say someone was in their lockers ripping them off. Police say this surveillance video shows their suspect, and the word has spread all over campus.

"My guess is somebody went in there looking like they knew what they were doing,” said student Dani Orban.

That's what police think too. Police say the suspect is not a student, but he was in TCU's athletic complex for a couple of hours. A detective says the man appears to stay on the phone so no one will talk to him and was pacing nonchalantly. At one point, police say he heads for the locker room but makes an about-face when he sees someone through the glass doors.

"It's pretty hard to get in there actually,” Orban said. “I've been around the facilities. They always have somebody standing there."

The burglary happened last Tuesday around 5:15 p.m. Police say student-athletes have normal access to the building.

"We have a big sense of community here,” said student Jori Tuthill. “And football being a huge center of school spirit, the fact that someone would go in and do that is very disappointing."

TCU police say the man in the video is also a person of interest in a similar burglary the week before at the Southern Methodist University’s football locker room. Police say that crime also happened while the team was practicing. 

"We always feel really safe on campus,” Orban said. “But the fact that something like that could happen is kind of nerve-racking."

Police are hoping someone will recognize the man and report him. Anyone with information should call Det. McCormack at 817-2570. Anyone who spots him should call 817-257-7777 immediately.

TCU also urges other local universities to be on alert.