Colorado State University Police Arrest Fort Collins Resident for Multiple Burglaries on Campus

Colorado State University Police Department detectives arrested Daniel Schinner on Thursday, March 11, in connection with a string of about 20 burglaries over the last month. The burglaries included the theft of items valued at $40,000, including computer hardware, electronics and personal items from university offices, labs and work areas in academic buildings. Schinner is not a CSU student.

During interviews with police, Schinner told detectives that every burglary he committed was facilitated by an unlocked door or window. He said he roamed campus during the early evening hours and checked academic buildings for unlocked doors and windows. If he was able to get into a building, he checked every door and ransacked unlocked rooms for valuables, personal items and food. Schinner also said he memorized custodial schedules.

“This is an excellent reminder to the campus community to be certain to lock the doors and windows of offices and laboratories when you aren’t working in them. It is also important to lock academic buildings after they are closed – even if you are working late — and to keep your personal information and valuable items in a secure place at all times,” said Wendy Rich-Goldschmidt, chief of the CSU Police Department. “We all share a role in making campus safe and in preventing crime. As always, please call CSUPD immediately if you see someone acting suspiciously.”

Schinner was arrested at his home, 228 W. Prospect No. 4, after officers executed a search warrant and recovered stolen laptops, projectors, calculators, computer hardware and items containing victim’s personal information such as external hard drives, mp3 players, flash drives, digital cameras and cell phones.

Schinner confessed up to 20 separate burglaries and was booked on an existing Colorado Department of Corrections warrant for separate CSUPD burglary convictions in 2007 and 2008.

Charges are 12 counts of second degree burglary, a class 4 felony, and one combined count of felony theft of more than $20,000, a class 3 felony.

Schinner’s arrest was made after several days and nights of surveillance and plain clothes patrol as well as reviews of surveillance footage from multiple sources on campus.

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