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Issue 24 May 21, 2004 Linfield College
Thief of college undergarments apprehended
Viktoria Putintsev
Last Friday, the Yamhill County Police Department arrested Sung Koo Kim, 30, for stealing lingerie from dormitories of area colleges and universities, including Linfield. Kim was released this week on $510,000 bail and charged with two counts of burglary and three counts of theft.
Sophomore Laura Eddy does her laundry in the basement of Jane Failing Hall. Eddy reported garments missing from her loads of laundry in April. contunued from News... and witnesses in order to charge Kim with more criminal counts, McMinnville Police Department Detective Frank Butler said.
The arrest occurred after students from George Fox University (GFU) repeatedly saw Kim on campus and reported items such as a GFU track uniform missing, Butler said. After a GFU student followed the suspect and wrote down his license plate number, Newberg police produced enough information to gain a search warrant for lingerie items in Kim's Tigard home. Police found the track uniform and more than 1,000 undergarments.
"He hit about every college you can think of," Butler said.
Currently, 129 items have been found with the "LIN" code for Linfield, and Butler said he thinks there are more that are not labeled.
"He has a propensity to write labels on garments from where he got them," Butler said.
Police found coded items from Jane Failing, Mahaffey and Larsell halls, and what are believed to be codes for the White Apartments and Miller Hall.
"If any [primarily] women have come up with lingerie items missing, they need to call me," Butler said. "Or anyone who has seen him at the dormitories."
Butler describes the suspect as a middle-aged man of Korean descent. Kim is a Korean citizen and police confiscated his passport.
Sophomore roommates Laura Eddy and Joanna Murphy both discovered personal items missing after doing laundry in the basement laundry room of their Jane Failing Hall dormitory.
"We had no idea if it was a joke or some sicko," Eddy said.
Eddy said that after all of her underwear and Murphy's track uniform were stolen in the middle of April, she told her Resident Advisor (RA). The RA said she would not report the thefts and there was nothing she could do.
"It's been over a month since it happened," Eddy said. "I'm disappointed in the RAs for not reporting it to campus security."
When Campus Safety learned of the arrest last Friday, Director of Campus Security and Safety John Garner sent an e-mail to StudentNews notifying students of the incident and asking them to report and reclaim missing items.
Garner said he doesn't believe Kim will stop his pattern of behavior because he has a five-year history of such actions. Kim got into the dorms by tailgating, or following alongside a crowd of students entering the building, Garner said.
"We supply students with security, but they should be aware and not let strangers into the dorms," Garner said.
Associate Dean of Students Jeff Mackay said he suggests students be more conscious of who is entering the dorms and not prop open doors.
Butler said the thefts are not only from laundry rooms, as police found articles that were soiled or had female hygiene products still attached, leading them to believe the items were lifted from victims' rooms.
"It totally freaked me out; that's disgusting," Eddy said. "I won't do laundry in the basement any more."
Butler said crime victims who file a report and agree to testify could be reimbursed for missing items.
If you were a victim of undergarment theft or if you have seen Kim on campus, please leave a message for Butler at (503) 434-7338. Garner can also be reached at extension 2602.
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Thief of college undergarments apprehended
Viktoria Putintsev
Last Friday, the Yamhill County Police Department arrested Sung Koo Kim, 30, for stealing lingerie from dormitories of area colleges and universities, including Linfield. Kim was released this week on $510,000 bail and charged with two counts of burglary and three counts of theft.
Sophomore Laura Eddy does her laundry in the basement of Jane Failing Hall. Eddy reported garments missing from her loads of laundry in April. contunued from News... and witnesses in order to charge Kim with more criminal counts, McMinnville Police Department Detective Frank Butler said.
The arrest occurred after students from George Fox University (GFU) repeatedly saw Kim on campus and reported items such as a GFU track uniform missing, Butler said. After a GFU student followed the suspect and wrote down his license plate number, Newberg police produced enough information to gain a search warrant for lingerie items in Kim's Tigard home. Police found the track uniform and more than 1,000 undergarments.
"He hit about every college you can think of," Butler said.
Currently, 129 items have been found with the "LIN" code for Linfield, and Butler said he thinks there are more that are not labeled.
"He has a propensity to write labels on garments from where he got them," Butler said.
Police found coded items from Jane Failing, Mahaffey and Larsell halls, and what are believed to be codes for the White Apartments and Miller Hall.
"If any [primarily] women have come up with lingerie items missing, they need to call me," Butler said. "Or anyone who has seen him at the dormitories."
Butler describes the suspect as a middle-aged man of Korean descent. Kim is a Korean citizen and police confiscated his passport.
Sophomore roommates Laura Eddy and Joanna Murphy both discovered personal items missing after doing laundry in the basement laundry room of their Jane Failing Hall dormitory.
"We had no idea if it was a joke or some sicko," Eddy said.
Eddy said that after all of her underwear and Murphy's track uniform were stolen in the middle of April, she told her Resident Advisor (RA). The RA said she would not report the thefts and there was nothing she could do.
"It's been over a month since it happened," Eddy said. "I'm disappointed in the RAs for not reporting it to campus security."
When Campus Safety learned of the arrest last Friday, Director of Campus Security and Safety John Garner sent an e-mail to StudentNews notifying students of the incident and asking them to report and reclaim missing items.
Garner said he doesn't believe Kim will stop his pattern of behavior because he has a five-year history of such actions. Kim got into the dorms by tailgating, or following alongside a crowd of students entering the building, Garner said.
"We supply students with security, but they should be aware and not let strangers into the dorms," Garner said.
Associate Dean of Students Jeff Mackay said he suggests students be more conscious of who is entering the dorms and not prop open doors.
Butler said the thefts are not only from laundry rooms, as police found articles that were soiled or had female hygiene products still attached, leading them to believe the items were lifted from victims' rooms.
"It totally freaked me out; that's disgusting," Eddy said. "I won't do laundry in the basement any more."
Butler said crime victims who file a report and agree to testify could be reimbursed for missing items.
If you were a victim of undergarment theft or if you have seen Kim on campus, please leave a message for Butler at (503) 434-7338. Garner can also be reached at extension 2602.
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