The university police arrested two Muncie men early Tuesday morning in the Ball State baseball parking lot as the men were trying to break into a student's car, Robert Fey, associate director of public safety, said.
Anthony Lynn VanSchoc, 20, and Richard Barba, 24, both of Muncie, were charged with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, and possession of stolen property, a possible felony, Gene Burton, UPD chief of police, said.
Burton said that neither VanSchoc or Barba are Ball State University students.
The university police are investigating Barba and VanSchoc in connection with a series of more than 30 vehicle break-in thefts and vandalism that have occurred in the past week on campus, Burton said.
The university police reports estimated a loss of $7,500, including both property damage and stolen items from 14 vehicles parked in the stadium lots the weekend of Jan. 15 and 16. An additional estimated loss of $3,000 from 10 vehicles in the stadium lots was reported for this past weekend.
Reports of loss for Lot H2 behind Schmidt/Wilson Residence Hall and other lots on campus were unavailable.
Senior Craig Kuenhert's car was broken into sometime between late Sunday night and Monday morning, he said. His CD player and loose change were stolen while his car was parked in Lot H2.
"I didn't see all the cars, but I think most were at the back of the lot," he said. "It looked like they were going after cars that didn't have security systems that would go off."
Kuenhert said he had been parked in the front of the lot earlier Sunday night but then gave a friend a ride and got stuck in the only open parking spaces at the back of the lot.
Burton said he advises students to avoid being a target of theft by keeping track of their cars by going out and checking on them once in a while.
He also said to avoid parking in the same spot all the time, putting decals on a car that may attract a thief's attention or leaving anything in plain view.
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