{ "id": "2025-01-23-uc-santa-cruz-john-r-lewis-college-bathroom-burglaries", "slug": "uc-santa-cruz-john-r-lewis-college-bathroom-burglaries-2025-01-23", "institution": { "name": "University of California, Santa Cruz", "shortName": "UC Santa Cruz", "state": "CA", "type": "public-r1", "alertSystemName": "Timely Warning Crime Bulletin", "enrollment": 19500 }, "incident": { "date": "2025-01-23", "endDate": "2025-03-04", "type": "burglary", "cleryCategory": "timely-warning", "headline": "Burglary, January 23, 2025", "summary": "Starting [January 23, 2025, students showering in the fourth-floor communal bathroom of Ohlone House at John R. Lewis College](https://lookout.co/uc-santa-cruz-investigates-voyeurism-burglary-reports-in-campus-residential-buildings/story) began reporting that their clothing, undergarments, and a cellphone had been stolen while they bathed; a second wave of similar thefts followed on February 11. UC Santa Cruz police and the Title IX office [later connected the burglaries to a string of voyeurism reports](https://kion546.com/news/2025/03/07/ucsc-investigates-reports-of-privacy-invasion-and-burglary-within-campus-housing/) in the same residential buildings, and in June [arrested former student Tony Pau, 21, on burglary, grand theft, and voyeurism charges](https://lookout.co/uc-santa-cruz-police-announce-arrest-of-suspect-in-on-campus-peeping-tom-cases/story).", "resolution": "confirmed-threat", "outcome": "UC Santa Cruz police arrested Tony Pau, 21, of Daly City, a recent UCSC graduate, on June 12, 2025, charging him with one count of burglary, one count of grand theft, and four counts of violating California's voyeurism statute. Court records showed Pau had previously pleaded guilty to similar conduct at an on-campus residence roughly two years earlier.", "casualties": { "killed": 0, "injured": 0 } }, "alerts": [ { "sequence": 1, "type": "initial", "timestampApprox": "On or shortly after January 23, 2025, once UCSC Police received the first report of stolen clothing from the Ohlone House communal bathroom", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "", "isVerbatimConfirmed": false, "sourceUrl": "https://news.ucsc.edu/2025/03/timely-crime-bulletin/", "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from UCSC News's March 2025 Timely Warning Crime Bulletin and Lookout Santa Cruz's reporting connecting it to the January 23 report", "annotations": [] }, { "sequence": 2, "type": "update", "timestampApprox": "On or shortly after February 11, 2025, after a second, similar report of stolen clothing and belongings in the same residential cluster", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "", "isVerbatimConfirmed": false, "sourceUrl": "https://news.ucsc.edu/2025/03/timely-crime-bulletin/", "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from UCSC News's Timely Warning Crime Bulletin describing the February 11 follow-up report", "annotations": [] }, { "sequence": 3, "type": "follow-up", "timestampApprox": "Between March 4 and March 7, 2025, after UCSC Police and the Title IX Office identified a possible link between the burglary reports and newly reported voyeurism incidents", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "UC Santa Cruz Police Department\n\nCase #: 25-200, 214, 216 | Date: 03/05/2025\n\nTimely Warning Crime Bulletin\nBURGLARY\n\nThis Timely Warning crime bulletin is being issued in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (Clery Act). The purpose is to provide preventative information to the campus community to aid members from becoming the victim of a similar crime.\n\nSummary of the Crime/Incident\n\nThe UCSC Police Department and/or Title IX became aware on March 4, 2025, of three incidents potentially related to a violation of California Penal Code 647(j)(3), also known as the “Peeping Tom” or voyeurism law. These incidents occurred between February 22, 2025, and March 4, 2025. One incident took place in Stevenson College, Building 2, while two others occurred in John R. Lewis College: one outside of a bathroom of Building 2 and the other in the 4th-floor bathroom of Building 4 (Ohlone House).\n\nIn each of the incidents, the reporting party reported seeing a cellphone, possibly being used to video or photograph them while they were showering. Additionally, there were reports of a possible burglary resulting in clothing, a cell phone, and undergarments being stolen from two separate parties while showering or bathing in the John R. Lewis, fourth floor bathroom, RH 4 (Ohlone House) on January 23, 2025, and February 11, 2025 which may be related to the voyeurism and video incidents.\n\nSuspect(s) Description\n\nPossibly Asian or White Male, average height, thin build, wearing a black hoodie, gray pants, low top white sneakers with light blue Nike brand logo with a cell phone.\n\nIf you have any information that might be helpful in this investigation, please contact UCPD at 831-459-2231 ext. 1 or provide information through the UCPD Tip Line at 831-459-3847. Your information can be kept confidential.\n\nSafety Tips\n\nDon’t engage in any behavior that may be considered a violation of privacy while showering or bathing. Don’t take another person’s belongings without their permission.\n\n• No one should ever be photographed or filmed without permission while showering.\n\n• Take responsibility for your actions.\n\n• Understand and respect personal boundaries.\n\nDon’t be a passive bystander. Intervene!\n\n• Encourage your friend to seek help.\n\n• Be a good listener. This means not talking when the person is speaking. Letting the person know you’re listening through facial expressions and verbal sounds (“Mmm-hmm”), and being able to repeat what the person has said practically (or as close to) word-for-word.\n\n• Offer your support by asking how you can help.\n\n• Educate yourself about personal safety while showering or bathing.\n\n• Avoid any confrontations with the person suspected of making a recording during your shower or bath; this could be dangerous for you and your friend.\n\nThink about ways you can be safer. This means thinking about what to do, where to go for help and who to call ahead of time:\n\n•\nStay alert in public spaces, particularly in areas like public restrooms, changing rooms, and dorm bathrooms. Be mindful of any suspicious behavior or individuals lingering around these areas.\n\n•\nCheck for hidden cameras: Before entering private spaces like bathrooms or changing rooms, quickly scan for any potential recording devices. Look for small, unusual objects that could be hiding a camera.\n\n•\nClose curtains or blinds when showering, bathing or changing, particularly in areas where someone could easily see in through windows. This can also prevent thieves from taking inventory of your belongings.\n\n•\nReport suspicious activity. If you notice any suspicious behavior or find someone lingering too long near private spaces (e.g., standing outside a bathroom or locker room), report it immediately to campus security or local authorities.\n\n•\nPay attention to your surroundings. Be cautious of individuals who appear to be overly interested in your private activities, especially in spaces where you should expect privacy. Keep an eye on people entering and leaving shared spaces, particularly if they are taking unusual actions (e.g., walking in and out of the bathroom multiple times).\n\n• Keep your cell phone handy; check to see that you have reception and that your cell phone is charged, but then pay attention to your surroundings instead of the phone.\n\nIncidents of violation of personal privacy through observation or making a recording or theft of personal property are taken seriously at UC Santa Cruz. If you are in the midst of any kind of emergency, immediate harm, or threat of harm, dial 9–1–1. If you want further information about UC Santa Cruz Police Department resources, please visit the PD website at https://police.ucsc.edu/.\n\nThe Title IX Office can answer questions and provide you with information regarding the applicable University complaint resolution process, including investigation to address your reported incident. Title IX can help with safety and supportive measures, whether or not you want an investigation. Title IX can be reached at 831–459–2462 or via email: titleix@ucsc.edu. You can also file an online report at https://titleix.ucsc.edu/ . In addition, UCSC’s CARE Advocates can provide free and confidential support. Visit CARE at care.ucsc.edu to learn more.\n\nFor questions regarding this bulletin, please email clerycompliance@ucsc.edu.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://news.ucsc.edu/2025/03/timely-crime-bulletin/", "sourceDescription": "UCSC News / UCSC Police Timely Warning Crime Bulletin (Mar 5, 2025)", "annotations": [ "Character-for-character transcription from official news.ucsc.edu Timely Warning Crime Bulletin page (Mar 5, 2025).", "Seq 1–2 remain unconfirmed reconstructions: this page is the March consolidated bulletin only; no separate Jan/Feb full TW texts published here." ], "characterCount": 5318, "timestamp": "2025-03-05T08:00:00-08:00" } ], "sources": [ { "title": "Timely Warning Crime Bulletin: Burglary", "url": "https://news.ucsc.edu/2025/03/timely-crime-bulletin/", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "UCSC investigating reports of voyeurism, burglary in campus residential buildings", "url": "https://lookout.co/uc-santa-cruz-investigates-voyeurism-burglary-reports-in-campus-residential-buildings/story", "type": "local-media" }, { "title": "UCSC investigates reports of privacy invasion and burglary within campus housing", "url": "https://kion546.com/news/2025/03/07/ucsc-investigates-reports-of-privacy-invasion-and-burglary-within-campus-housing/", "type": "local-media" }, { "title": "Former student arrested in on-campus 'peeping tom' cases, UCSC police say", "url": "https://lookout.co/uc-santa-cruz-police-announce-arrest-of-suspect-in-on-campus-peeping-tom-cases/story", "type": "local-media" }, { "title": "UCSC 'peeping tom' suspect had history of similar crimes, court records show", "url": "https://lookout.co/ucsc-peeping-tom-suspect-had-history-of-similar-crimes-court-records-show/story", "type": "local-media" } ], "context": "[UC Santa Cruz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Santa_Cruz) houses undergraduates in residential colleges built around communal, floor-shared bathroom facilities, including John R. Lewis College's Ohlone House. Beginning [January 23, 2025, students showering in Ohlone House's fourth-floor communal bathroom reported clothing, undergarments, and a cellphone stolen](https://lookout.co/uc-santa-cruz-investigates-voyeurism-burglary-reports-in-campus-residential-buildings/story) while they bathed; a second, similar report followed on February 11. What initially read as a routine burglary pattern took on a different character in early March 2025, when [UCSC Police and the Title IX Office disclosed three additional reports of voyeurism](https://kion546.com/news/2025/03/07/ucsc-investigates-reports-of-privacy-invasion-and-burglary-within-campus-housing/) in Stevenson College and John R. Lewis College between February 22 and March 4, in which students saw a cellphone that may have been used to record them while showering, and explicitly connected those reports back to the earlier bathroom burglaries. In June 2025, [UCSC police arrested Tony Pau, 21, a recent UCSC graduate](https://lookout.co/uc-santa-cruz-police-announce-arrest-of-suspect-in-on-campus-peeping-tom-cases/story), charging him with burglary, grand theft, and four counts of voyeurism. Lookout Santa Cruz's [subsequent reporting on Pau's court history](https://lookout.co/ucsc-peeping-tom-suspect-had-history-of-similar-crimes-court-records-show/story) found he had pleaded guilty to similar conduct at an on-campus residence roughly two years before his June 2025 arrest, raising questions about whether earlier discipline or law enforcement contact should have flagged the risk sooner. The case is a rare instance in the archive of a Clery burglary series that investigators later determined was the leading edge of a much more serious, sustained campus safety threat.", "keyFindings": [ "A burglary series targeting students' clothing and belongings while they showered in communal bathrooms began January 23, 2025 at John R. Lewis College's Ohlone House and continued with a second report on February 11", "UCSC Police and the Title IX Office publicly connected the burglary reports to three separate voyeurism reports in early March 2025, spanning Stevenson College and John R. Lewis College", "Former UCSC student Tony Pau, 21, was arrested in June 2025 and charged with burglary, grand theft, and four counts of voyeurism, tying the property-crime and privacy-invasion threads together", "Court records showed Pau had previously pleaded guilty to similar conduct at an on-campus residence roughly two years before this arrest, suggesting a recurring individual threat rather than an isolated incident", "The case illustrates how what begins as a low-severity Clery burglary alert can later be revealed as connected to a more serious, ongoing offense once investigators link previously separate reports" ], "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "burglary", "voyeurism", "residence-hall", "communal-bathroom", "serial-incidents", "california", "public-r1", "2020s", "suspect-arrested", "title-ix" ], "dateAdded": "2026-07-03", "lastUpdated": "2026-07-20", "addedBy": "ingestion" }