Last UB theft suspect arrested

Weber State University Police arrested 38-year-old Michael Corbett late Tuesday Nov. 25, in connection with two burglaries at the WSU Student Union Building. "I think this is a real commendation for the WSU police," said John Kowalewski, WSU director of media relations. He said he thought the case was well-handled and solved quickly. WSU police followed leads and traced Corbett across county lines. Corbett was eventually traced to Willard, where he was found shortly after 9 p.m. After WSU police tagged him with the Union Building burglaries, Corbett was booked in the Weber County Jail for burglary and position of stolen property. "This is just an example of good old-fashioned police work," Kowalewski said. He said WSU police have been following the trail with exceptional teamwork. This was the second arrest made in the case. It all began two weeks ago when, on the morning of Friday Nov. 21, when the staff of the Union Building Mail Center found signs of burglary. Missing items included $1600 cash, three computers and an unknown number registration cards containing personal information of those who had rented mailboxes at the Union Building Mail Center. Less than 24 hours later, a second attempt was made. This time, the target was the WSU scheduling office. Burglars took money from a breast-cancer fundraiser box and video also showed one man attempting to break open an ATM. Fortunately, WSU police stopped the second act from following through. Officers noticed a car parked illegally in an A-6 lot on campus at 1 a.m. Saturday. When they approached, the car took off. Police followed and stopped the suspicious car, the driver of which was Thomas Tucker. Officers saw what appeared to be stolen goods in the back of Tucker's car, including a set of master keys to the Union Building that police believe he obtained from the Mail Center. Tucker was booked that morning into the Weber County Jail for burglary and possession of stolen goods. Police then followed leads which lead to the arrest of Michael Corbett, prime suspect in the burglaries. Kowalewski said police had not yet accounted for everything that had been stolen, but were still in the process of tracking stolen property as of Wednesday. He said that the items recovered would be used as evidence in the adjudication of the case. As for those who had personal information stolen, Kowalewski said police don't know what was done with the information while it was outside secure protection, so they must remain alert. "At this point in time," Kowalewski said, "we are still encouraging anyone who had their information on those cards to pursue proactive steps to minimize the chances that their information could be used." Kowalewski said the two suspects might also be implicated in the currently unsolved case of seven vending machine thefts on campus that occurred the weekend of October 27. Kowalewski said Union Building officials are reconfiguring security measures, possibly replacing the key system with a new encoded keycard system as soon as possible.