New information is now available surrounding the alleged on-campus burglary that occurred February 1, 2024 outside of Building A in the B parking lot.
According to the ECC Police Department General Incident Report, Reporting Officer Phillip Hernandez responded to a student complaint that someone had entered their vehicle in the B lot and emptied out items from their glove box and center console. The student stated that nothing appeared to be missing at the time and was advised that Hernandez would look at the security video.
As Hernandez reviewed the security video, ECC PD Administrator Tonya Stetina received a call from a second student who had also parked in the B lot. They stated that after leaving school and returning home, they discovered that someone had entered their vehicle and removed $350 from their wallet that was in the glove box.
Hernandez and Stetina discovered Hasnain Raza had entered four vehicles, including the two complaint vehicles. Hernandez recognized Raza from two previous non-criminal encounters in the past year.
Raza was contacted and stated that he was looking for his friend’s vehicle and was planning to wait for him in his car. According to the ECC police report, when Raza was told that $350 was missing from one of the vehicles, he stated that he did not take any money out of a vehicle. But, he would reimburse it.
Raza admitted to entering four vehicles through a voluntary written statement but denied taking anything from them. He stated that he had $200 to give to the student on Feb. 1 and would give the remaining $150 the following day, Feb. 2.
On Feb. 1, Raza signed a ban notice and was banned from Elgin Community College.
On Feb. 5, the student stated that they would be satisfied with Raza returning their money and would not want to pursue the matter any further. They agreed to meet the next morning in the ECC PD office to resolve the issue.
On Feb. 6, Raza arrived at the ECC PD office without the total amount of money the student expected, so they then refused to accept the amount that Raza had brought and left for class stating that they would go to court.
Then, Raza was taken into police custody and charged with one count of Burglary and one count of Criminal Trespass To Vehicle.
According to Illinois Compiled Statutes, Raza may face three to seven years imprisonment for the felony burglary charge and less than a year for the misdemeanor criminal trespass if convicted.
“Checking unlocked cars is kind of a crime of opportunity,” said ECC Chief of Police David Kintz. “If you just lock the car door, then they can’t get in and check around and see if you left anything valuable in there.”
The last burglary to a motor vehicle at ECC was on Oct. 7, 2022, also in the B parking lot. According to the ECC PD Crime Alert, a subject entered an unlocked vehicle, took items and caused damage to the car. Moments before the burglary was discovered, a student had reported a suspicious person to an ECC police officer.
“We appreciate the fact that people are aware and report things,” said Kintz. “If someone is lingering in a parking lot, [walking] from car to car, they obviously are not looking for their own car. If you see someone walking and pulling on door handles, please let us know.”
ECC PD maintains its patrols on foot through the building, in squad cars staying mobile and monitoring the nearly 500 plus cameras on campus.
“We are very fortunate that we have a safe campus as evidenced by the last case similar to this was [almost] two years ago,” said Kintz. “I’ve actually probably had more cases of students turning in found money than I have students taking found money, so I like to think we have an honest group here.”
When an ECC student commits a crime on campus, ECC PD will usually respond initially and then make a referral to Dean of Students John Long’s office for any Student Code of Conduct violations.
“Whenever possible, my office approaches such incidents in a learning-centered manner, through a restorative justice lens,” said Long. “The goal is not to be punitive, but to help students learn from experiences and guide them to make better choices moving forward.”
Raza is set to appear in a Kane County Circuit Court on March 5.
