Witness assists in apprehension of local woman linked to plague of area thefts

University Police arrested a 20-year-old Minneapolis woman last Tuesday in connection with a string of thefts around the University.

The woman, who is not associated with the University, was allegedly using at least four identities that she gleaned from various stolen ID cards, according to police reports.

Her possessions included checks and deposit slips from accounts under several different names, in addition to two social security cards, an immigration employment authorization card, a University staff ID card, five credit cards, three calling cards, two insurance cards and two library cards.

The woman is also suspected in three earlier thefts, according to police reports. Police said they found items in the woman's possession that matched items reported missing in the previous thefts.

A backpack containing $80 in cash, a check and a check card was stolen on June 23 from the Department of Geology located in Pillsbury Hall, police said. The backpack was found later that evening in a women's restroom; the check was recovered from the suspect's possessions.

A wallet containing an ID and credit cards was stolen on the afternoon of July 6 from a University graduate student at 51 East River Road, according to another police report. Almost all of the items were also recovered from the suspect's possession, police said.

Another wallet was taken at 150 Pillsbury Dr. S.E. last Tuesday, according to a third police report. The wallet contained ID cards, a credit card and a checkbook.

But in the third theft, a witness followed the suspect while calling University Police dispatchers, according to a fourth police report.

Police said they apprehended the suspect at University and 10th avenues southeast, where the witness identified the suspect, according to the police report. The third victim said she saw the suspect in the area where her wallet disappeared from.

Also among the suspect's property at the time of her arrest were more than 20 CDs and several other wallets, according to the report.

In other police news:

ù A pinball machine and video game, together worth $1,500, were stolen from Centennial Hall, police said.

The machines were stolen sometime in June, but the theft was not reported until last Wednesday, according to a University Police report.

ù An area man who taped handmade signs reading "Move car or be towed -- 48 hour limit -- Mpls. City Law" to a woman's car in the Como Student Housing Area was reprimanded by University Police, according to a police report.