Criminal Charges Filed Against Alleged UCLA Computer Thief

Criminal charges were filed today against a man who allegedly stole more than 50 laptop computers from a research library and the student union store at UCLA, where he had been enrolled earlier this year.

Seyed Ali Pakiz Hesari, 29, is charged with two counts each of grand theft of personal property and second-degree commercial burglary and one count of vandalism with over $400 in damage -- all felonies -- as well as a misdemeanor count of giving false information to a police officer.

Hesari was set to appear in court this afternoon for arraignment, but information on the outcome of the hearing wasn’t available.

Hesari, who was arrested Tuesday, is not currently enrolled at the university. But he had been enrolled as recently as March, studying history, according to UCLA.

Campus police recovered more than 50 stolen laptops late Tuesday when officers served a search warrant at Hesari’s residence in the 6900 block of Melrose Avenue after detaining him for questioning, the university reported.

“Acting on a tip about a man on campus matching the description of a burglary suspect ... (police officers) made contact with Hesari in a recreation center on campus,” according to a UCLA statement, which said he “was wearing sweatpants and shoes similar to those worn by a suspect in surveillance footage.”

Fifty-five Apple laptops with an estimate value of $33,000 were stolen from the equipment loan room of the Charles E. Young Research Library early Saturday morning, and two Apple laptops were stolen from the Ackerman Union computer store on Sept. 28, UCLA reported.

In Saturday’s theft, the burglar smashed an east-facing ground level window to gain access to the library building, then smashed the window on a door to the room where laptops are loaned to patrons, according to UCLA police Chief James D. Herren.

---City News Service

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