We all know crime is something to watch out for on any college campus, but it’s easy to forget when you’re caught up in the chaos of student life.
In Knoxville, where there’s a noticeable homeless population, staying cautious can feel like one more thing on an already overloaded to-do list. But sometimes, it’s the little things — like forgetting to lock your car — that can lead to a much bigger headache. Last night, that’s exactly what happened.
On Wednesday, Nov. 20, my best friend Ella’s car was broken into. Her backpack, wallet and keys were stolen.
Ella arrived at my house at 5:29 p.m., and by 6:12 p.m., her keys were gone. We were planning to go to dinner along with one of my roommates, Miller, and we figured Ella would drive. After noticing her car was locked and she could not locate her keys, we did not think much of this, and I decided to drive us to dinner instead.
While we were eating, Ella casually checked her phone and noticed several notifications about charges she hadn’t made. At first, she didn’t connect her locked car and missing wallet to these charges. As her wallet was already broken, and her cards had fallen out before, she figured it was just one of those days. But when she logged into her banking app, we were stunned.
Whoever had her wallet had gone on a spending spree. The thief spent $160.54 at Walgreens, over $200 at Publix split into two purchases, $8.95 at Cookout, $43.06 at Ian’s Market, and $29.21 at Corner Market on 13th Street. Over $400 spent quicker than it took us to finish our chips, queso and quesadillas.
Reflecting later, Ella admitted, “It was when I started seeing those charges that it hit me — someone definitely got into my car.”
After dinner, we checked for her keys in the driveway, the house and her car, but no luck. Eventually she turned on her phone’s flashlight and looked in her backseat and realized her backpack was gone.
That’s when it all clicked — someone had walked down the driveway, opened her unlocked car and stolen her things.
Ella quickly reached out to a few police officers she conveniently knew through her gym. After asking the usual questions — “What time did you notice they were missing?” “What’s your location?” “Could there be DNA evidence on your car?” — one officer asked the jackpot question: “Do you have anything trackable in the backpack?” Ella initially said no, but then quickly remembered — her AirPods were in the bag.
She opened the FindMy app, and suddenly, we had a lead: Her AirPods were pinging from the Salvation Army. Ella kept refreshing her phone, watching the thief’s movements like she was tracking a pizza delivery. After a few minutes, we received another call from an officer asking her to confirm the AirPods’ current location. Ella panicked, replying, “Oh! He’s moved! He’s in my house!” This jump scare quickly became funny, as she realized she had accidentally clicked on her Apple Watch’s location which happened to be on her wrist. We all burst out laughing, except for the cop, who remained focused on the case.
The thief lingered outside the Salvation Army, the well-known stomping ground for much of Knoxville’s homeless population, before moving to another street.
The officer called us as he approached the suspect and asked Ella to ping the AirPods to help identify the stolen backpack. On the phone, we heard the officer’s partner say to the suspect, “Oh, these definitely aren’t yours,” referring to Ella’s AirPods. Shortly after, the officer called back to say Ella’s backpack, some cards and her AirPods had been recovered, but her keys and wallet were still missing. It was almost midnight when the officer eventually asked us to meet him at a nearby location to retrieve her belongings.
After being reunited with her items, Ella apologized for the trouble, but the officer reassured her.
“Honestly, catching this guy wasn’t just about your case. We’re glad to get him off the streets before he could do this to someone else.”
This was a case of a serial thief. We figured that was the end of it, until Ella received a call from her apartment complex explaining that someone had found her keychain at Fort Sanders School.
After I picked Ella up for what seemed like a never ending mission, we began thinking to ourselves, “Hmmm. Maybe we should become police officers. This is kind of fun.” When we got to the front desk, the officer who works at the school and had found her keychain handed it to her. Unfortunately, we noticed it no longer had her car keys or wallet attached.
Initially, walking up to the school thinking all loose ends to this case had been tied, I asked Ella how she felt in the moments before realizing a few of her things were still missing. She admits, “I was so happy and hopeful.”
Ella is still waiting for any more leads on her keys and wallet, but her advice for anyone reading is simple: “Lock your car — it’s Knoxville.”
It seems like common sense, but it’s easy to forget. Trust us, it’s worth the effort. Additionally, using some form of tracking device, whether it be AirPods, an AirTag or a Tile Tracker, can go a long way.
Ryleigh Dougall is a junior at UT this year studying accounting. She can be reached at [email protected].
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