On Feb. 10, Skyline student, Ray Reules got his 1995 Acura Integra stolen between 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. His girlfriend, Karolyn Lopez, reported it to public safety as soon as she noticed the the car was gone. Unfortunately, the car was long gone by the time she found out.

Reules has been attending Skyline since 2010 and has never suspected car theft on campus.

“I would use a club steering wheel lock when attending other campuses like CSM or Canada but never at Skyline. I really felt comfortable at my own school” Reules said. “Now, I just can’t trust our campus anymore.”

Officers patrol the parking lots randomly either by foot or car, day and night. There are cameras stationed throughout the campus both inside and outside. The camera system is generally effective in deterring criminal activity however, it did not have any footage of the incident.

Fortunately, Reules reported to TSV that his car was recovered by the City of Millbrae sometime last week. They only took his stereo and no other damage was done.

“Skyline College is a safe campus and there have been no crime spikes. The college posts statistics on the website for public viewing at https://www.skylinecollege.edu/publicsafety/securitystatistics.php. Public Safety encourages all students, faculty and staff to be aware of their surroundings, request escorts and report any suspicious activity.” Cherie Colin, director of marketing, communications and public relations at Skyline stated.

Like Colin said, there is no crime spikes, let alone raise in car thefts. This is one of two car theft incidents this semester and it is unusual according to Public Safety Records. However comparing these stats from the past, the incident has repeated itself enough to consider it possible to happen again.

Reules suggests to all car owners and drivers to “add a hidden kill switch, especially if your car is suseptible to being stolen.” These switches­ disrupt the flow of electricity at the battery or ignition switch or disable the fuel pump. Any of these will disencourage the bad guys into pursuing the steal. A switch is only a few bucks and can defeat even the savviest car kleptomaniac.

When parking your car, check if your lights are off, windows are rolled up, hide your sound system and make sure your doors are locked. This car thief may be looking for another victim and we don’t want to take any chances.