Biochemistry major Mallek Kherici sensed 2/2/22 would be an unusual day.
And it was: While walking back to the second floor of the Structure E parking lot around 4:20 p.m from her American history Zoom class, she had an unexpected turn in her day.
Kherici realized her 2013 silver Hyundai Sonata was nowhere to be found.
“I thought I was hallucinating because sometimes I forget where I park for some reason, but I was pretty sure it was in front of the elevator,” Kherici said.
When Kherici called the Cal State LA campus police, she said they arrived within five minutes to help, but after about one hour of searching without any leads, campus police decided to call LAPD and file a national claim across America to look for her car for further investigation.
LAPD then found her car after it got notice from campus police.
“[LAPD] never told me how they found my car because the engine was burned,” she said.
Despite having parked in front of a security camera, Kherici said she was never given camera footage of the incident and according to Kherici and LAPD, there are still no suspects for her case.
“I don’t feel safe at all,” she said. “I now even take a picture of my car when I park it. I take a picture on each side just to double check and also make sure to take a picture of where I am in the structure. My father also bought me a pedal lock.”
Students interviewed by the UT reported that Kherici is not alone.
Other students have also come forward, such as Somya Pal, an economics major and international student from India. He said he worked three jobs last semester in order to save up to buy his very first car, a 2016 Hyundai Sonata, but last Friday it was stolen on campus.
“I filed a police report immediately with the campus police and honestly, it’s kind of devastating,” he said. “When filing the report, the officer said, ‘You know it’s more common than you think.’ Well that shouldn’t be the case. I paid for everything they asked me to pay for but when it comes to actually doing what they’re supposed to do, they just let the cars get taken away.”
According to Pal, he has not received any further report or updates on his car and is unsure what is happening. He hopes there will be change and action taken by the university.
Another student, Rochelle Galamay, a psychology major, said her 1999 white Honda Civic was stolen from Lot 5 back in October of 2021 around two in the morning. She said she was rejected camera footage of the incident by campus police when she asked for it.
“Cal State LA parking should be supervised more strictly because this is an ongoing problem of cars and items being stolen in the parking lots,” she said.
In a more recent incident on April 13, Edwin Estrada, a natural science major, caught an assailant on camera allegedly attempting to steal his 2014 black Kia Optima.
While car thefts on campus have decreased in recent years, going down from nine in 2018 to four in 2020, according to the 2021 Annual Security Report, this semester has seen an uptick in car theft according to Cal State LA students.
Cal State LA police Chief Larry Bohannon told the UT they are actively investigating and working closely with neighboring agencies to resolve the issue.
“It’s not just campus, but it’s happening in this area,” Bohannon said. “They are targeting Kias and Hyundais of those specific years of 2012 to 2020, but we’re working with our neighboring agencies.”
“We’re also increasing our presence in the lots,” he continued. “Right now we’re going to use our Eagle Patrol to also supplement parking lots. Generally Eagle Patrol would focus on the inner campus because that’s where a lot of our requests are generated, but we’re going to also use them now to increase our presence in the parking lots. The suspects, you know, they’re taking these cars very quickly.”
Chief Bohannon highly discourages students from engaging with the suspects.
“If you can observe, get as much description as you possibly can, but we highly discourage [engaging] because you never know what these folks are thinking and we would never want anything to happen to any of our community members on or off campus,” he said.
Bohannon suggested that students should call Kia and Hyundai to try and file a complaint about these incidents and how easy someone can get into their car.
Social work major Christian Diaz said his friend who lives on campus had a similar experience as other students.
“I have a friend who just got their car stolen recently from campus too,” Diaz said. “It’s definitely something that needs to get fixed.”
According to Diaz, the incident happened this past week.
“I don’t know the specific make but I know he had a tracker on it and he had to get the police involved and he’s still in the process of getting it fixed,” he said.
Diaz says he does not feel safe with all the recent incidents.
“If my car is getting burned, it seems a little personal,” he said. “It seems like [Kherici] was targeted so yeah, I don’t feel safe like that.”
Diaz also believes there should be better implementation of security in the parking lots.
“It’s definitely not the first time this happened so the campus definitely needs to work on implementing more security or even just having more security walk around campus, especially in the parking lots,” he said.
Miracle Moore, a psychology student, said she is shocked by Kherici’s incident.
“It’s just crazy,” she said. “That happened here in broad daylight, and there’s not really much information about it. I’m shocked and scared. That could happen to anyone.”
Moore also believes that there should be better security protocols and more cameras in the parking lots.
Students like kinesiology major Clarissa Fernandez said they don’t feel safe on campus.
“That’s kind of scary,” she said. “Like who just does that? I mean no. I don’t feel safe. I drive my car to school. Like what if they steal my car and burn it? What if I was inside? As a student, if [the University] is not doing anything about it, then how are we supposed to get help?”
Kherici has noticed more security patrols on school property since her car was stolen, but she feels that should be done all semester long and not just after something like this happens. Kherici also advised other students to take more precautions and to double check their cars before they leave.
Kherici mourns not just the loss of her car but also on having already paid for a parking permit.
“I paid $220 just for my car to get stolen,” she said. “I feel like if students are going to pay $220 for a parking permit and for them to say it’s not their responsibility of theft on campus, I feel like they should at least take their part in securing the parking structures instead of giving tickets everyday.”
Kherici’s car theft has affected her life greatly, including her ability to get to campus. She currently lives in La Crescenta-Montrose, about a 30- to 40-minute drive with traffic to Cal State LA.
“I had to take an Uber for like a week which is a lot of money to spend too because my parents expected me to drive,” she said. “My mom needed her car in order to go to work. My dad had to get a rental so my mom drove that and I drove her old car until I got my car a week ago. So it’s been almost two months of waiting.”
The good news is her insurance allowed her to upgrade to a newer and more secure, keyless car.
“It’s the same brand, a 2013 white Hyundai Elantra GT,” she said.
Unfortunately, that’s not where her car nightmare ended. A week after Kherici had her car stolen, she had another car incident, and this time it was her mother’s car.
“I had to drive my mom’s car and it was probably a week or two after mine got stolen,” she said. “That’s when they stole the Chevy symbol on my mom’s car.”
Business major Jonathan Cruz said he hopes action will be taken to prevent any further incidents from happening.
“You never really know if you’re the next target,” he said.
Despite emails and phone calls, the Communications and Public Affairs Office could not be reached, and the dean of students has yet to comment on the situation on behalf of the University.
Nestor Fletes, an undeclared major said he had a center cap stolen from his new rims on Wednesday, March 9, while parked on top of Structure B by Salazar Hall. Fletes said he does not feel safe anymore and is annoyed that there are not many cameras in the parking structures.
“Something that I feel like should happen is the money from parking permits should be used on security, especially cameras,” he said. “Theft can never be prevented but it can be discouraged.”
A University Department of Public Safety email said:
“If you are the victim of a motor vehicle theft on campus, contact the Department of Public Safety immediately by calling 323-343-3700 and be prepared to provide the following:
- License plate number and vehicle year, make, model, and color;
- Date, time, and location you last saw your vehicle;
- Date and time you discovered your vehicle missing; and
- Advise if you subscribe to a vehicle tracking service, such as Lojack or OnStar.”
Note: This story appeared in print edition of the University Times in April 2022.
