U OF I - Someone's breaking into vending machines on campus and they come prepared. Tony Ortiz with the University of Illinois Police Department says, "If you have the right tools, you can be in and out pretty quickly." He adds, the suspects know what they're doing. Five machines in all were hit between March 31st and May 4th and all of them were in different parts of campus. Some were pop machines, others were full of snacks but in each case only the money was taken. Investigators believe whoever is doing this knows how the machines work and likely staked out the area before moving in. Ortiz says, "They look for things like who's in the area, how much traffic is in the area and when there's no traffic they'll come in and usually work in pairs." That allows one person to rip off the machine while the other stands guard, according to Ortiz. No word on how much money was taken, but if you see someone hanging around a vending machine on campus and they don't look like a student or staff member, call Champaign County Crimestoppers at 373-TIPS. You can also send in a text tip, just type: Tip 397 plus your information and then send it to CRIMES. Or you can give a tip on line.
Click here to give an on-line tip. However you help out, you don't have to give your name or testify in court and a reward is offered.
