CSULB Student Held at Gunpoint By Car Thief

Approached by a man while in one of his college’s parking structures, a student at California State University Long Beach suddenly found himself held at gunpoint and robbed this Wednesday, Nov. 13th.

Yesterday afternoon, at approximately 1:40 PM, a Long Beach State student was outside his vehicle on the fourth floor of an on-campus parking structure when a stranger walked up and began talking with him. 

According to a campus-wide crime bulletin released by the University Police Department, the man talked with the student for almost ten minutes when he suddenly “spun the victim around and held a handgun to the victim’s neck, took the victim’s keys, took the vehicle, and left campus.”

The crime bulletin described the man as being a 5’8” Caucasian male in his twenties and about 160 pounds. Last seen wearing a royal blue windbreaker jacket and a backpack, he is said to have had “unkempt facial hair and light brown, medium length hair.”

The campus’ crime statistics suggest there has not been any spike in recent years in the number of on-campus motor vehicle thefts at CSULB. According to these statistics, from 2015 to 2016, the number of reported motor vehicle thefts on-campus or in campus residential areas more than doubled from 8 total reported cases to 20 cases. Although, since then, the number of cases has generally remained the same with 14 cases being reported last year. The use of a firearm, however, seemed to have been a quite rare occurrence compared to other reported cases. 

The stolen vehicle was a silver 2009 Lexus RX350 and campus police urge anyone with information surrounding the incident to contact them.

If you believe you witnessed the crime or saw the vehicle described you can contact UPD detectives at (562) 985-410 or at the UPD Anonymous Tip Line at (562) 986-5131. Callers are informed to refer to the incident as case no. #19-0857 when reporting.

By Jewel Sanchez