Stuff stolen from dorm rooms and the guy was caught

[xeemzor]

Someone broke into my dorm room and stole a PSP and an Ipod, in addition to stealing various school books from people in my dorm hall. In a moment of karma, my dormmates and I found that the books that had been stolen were returned at the bookstore. It is bookstore policy to record the student ID of people before they can sell any book back for this reason, so the name of the thief is known. While I'm not jumping to any conclusions, it is highly likely that he also participated in the theft of my stuff, in addition to about 10 other thefts around campus. He stole over $500 worth of stuff from me, so that's already a felony grand larceny charge in addition to all the petty larceny charges.

If the theft of my stuff is connected to him, is there any legal action I can pursue in civil court in addition to criminal court? What kind of procedures will I have to go through in order to take him to court and what will I go through once I'm in court, both for civil and criminal? This is in Chicago, IL.

 

[jagec]

Go to the campus cops with the evidence. Regular cops probably won't care as much, but no college likes to have a reputation for crime.

If they don't do anything, go to the guy personally, with a few big friends, and persuade him to return your stuff

 

[Brackis]

You at NU or in the city?

 

[xeemzor]

I'm at IIT, and both my dormmates and I have already submitted police reports with the campus police.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Those people need to get a life, they steal things like money grows on a tree or something :roll:

 

[santz]

go to your professional advocate at the university, they will tell you what you can do legally about this. Otherwise go to you university police, they have dealt with such cases before and can advise you on all possible courses of action that you are can take.

good luck. definitely see this through, otherwise the dude will steal more from others.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Those people need to get a life, they steal things like money grows on a tree or something :roll:

Seriously. And from fellow students no less, people who can't really afford to take such a loss. Only low-lifes steal from kids on minimum wage or no wage at all.

 

[BoomerD]

Kiss your stuff goodbye. Most likely, even if they catch him, he's already sold it for cash and/or drugs...
Civil court will require that YOU prove his guilt in stealing your stuff, not just that he sold books to the bookstore.

 

[xeemzor]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Kiss your stuff goodbye. Most likely, even if they catch him, he's already sold it for cash and/or drugs...
Civil court will require that YOU prove his guilt in stealing your stuff, not just that he sold books to the bookstore.

I'm hoping that since he stole so much stuff in the past few days, that he hasn't had time to sell the stuff. If he is found guilty in a criminal court, can't that be used against him in a civil court?