On Nov. 1 at approximately 5:53 a.m., Emanuel Santos rummaged through multiple vehicles in the University Village Apartments parking lot. According to the police report, he was arrested the next day by FAU police while in possession of items that were reported stolen by the vehicles’ owners. 

The report said that Santos is now being charged with three counts of petty theft of the second degree and three counts of burglary to an unoccupied conveyance.

Santos was seen on surveillance footage entering multiple vehicles through the passenger side door before opening the trunks to look for more items. The vehicles were parked in Lot 60, better known as the UVA parking lot. According to the police report, the vehicles’ owners reported missing items later on that day.

An officer saw a man matching the description from the security footage walking on East University Drive at 11:18am the next day. The officer asked for his ID and questioned the suspect’s business on campus since he was not a student. The suspect, identified as Emanuel Santos, of Homestead, was visiting his girlfriend who lived in the Business Professional Women’s Scholarship House.

When the officer asked Santos if he was aware of the reported thefts, he stated that he had no idea what he was talking about. However, he was wearing a pair of gold Ray-ban Aviator sunglasses on his head –the same pair that had been reported stolen the day before.

Santos also had Apple Airpods in his pocket, and the officer asked to see them. They were labeled “Emanuels Airpods #2.” After pairing the Airpods to his department-issued iPhone, the officer noticed that the serial number matched the number of the Airpods reported stolen from a vehicle the day before.

The officer then determined probable cause to arrest Santos for the possession of stolen property relevant to the case.

The police report said that Santos eventually confessed to burglarizing the vehicles the day before and admitted to stealing all the items listed as stolen, after agreeing to speak to the officer and a sergeant in a taped interview. He said that the rest of the items were stashed in his girlfriend’s dorm room in the Business Professional Women’s Scholarship House.

Santos will appear in court on Dec. 3 at 8:30am for his hearing.

 Kendall Little is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @klittlewrites.