University police identified the suspect in the Sellery and Cole residence hall theft investigations Wednesday.
Investigators questioned Nicholas Suarez, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, as a person of interest in the early evening of Sept. 26. Shortly after questioning, Suarez confessed he committed the crimes.
The investigation began in the late evening of Sept. 20 when several thefts occurred in Sellery Hall. Residents reported a strange man had been breaking in and stealing items from dorm rooms in which the residents were sleeping. Police also reported similar thefts in Cole Hall.
The UW-Madison Police Department took Suarez to the Dane County Jail and requested charges for burglary, theft and disorderly conduct.
While Suarez is a UW-Madison student, he is not a resident of UW-Madison Housing, according to the police report.
Based on the evidence found in the investigation, UWPD Sgt. Aaron Chapin said UWPD does not have any information to suggest there was another suspect involved in the burglaries.
Chapin encouraged students to continue to take necessary safety precautions in the residence halls.
“I’d like to…make sure that residents are locking their residence hall rooms even when they are inside the room and asleep at night,” Chapin said. “That is what happened in some of these cases, where the doors were left unlocked.”
UWPD also reminded students in the residence halls to ensure anyone unrecognizable is not let into the building.
