Winter break burglary

University Police arrested a former Troy student after a burglary in the Newman Center on the last day of last semester.

A Newman resident, who stayed in the dorm over winter break, notified university police that a dorm room had been entered and items were missing.

Malik Ferguson, a 19-year-old Troy freshman, and his alleged accomplice, 20-year-old non-student Brandon Sprinkle, were observed on surveillance cameras entering five dorm rooms in the Newman Center and leaving with various electronic items, according to the police.

Police identified Ferguson on camera, but were unable to reach him for several days following the burglary.

Warrants were then secured against Ferguson, and his family informed police that he had moved to Nashville, University Police Chief John McCall said. Ferguson’s family brought him to Huntsville, where he was picked up by police and arrested.

Ferguson admitted that Sprinkle was his accomplice and provided police the phone number of Sprinkle’s mother, McCall said.

The mother brought Sprinkle from his hometown of Pensacola to Troy, where he was arrested.

Ferguson and Sprinkle were arrested on five felony burglary warrants and five misdemeanor theft-of-property warrants. Both admitted to the crime and are currently in Pike County Jail, according to McCall. None of the stolen items were recovered.

McCall said that he wants to urge students to be aware of their valuable property and to keep it secure at all times.

“Lock your doors,” McCall said. “We discuss this issue in the freshman safety meeting every fall.

“Take pictures of the serial numbers of all your electronics and other valuable items in your room, and keep those numbers in a secure location.

“Most crimes that occur on campus are crimes of opportunity, which means you leave something in plain view in your car or you leave your doors unlocked.”