By Kayla Chandler
Zac Sanders, a sophomore baseball player at New Mexico Junior College, lived through a night for the books in Lubbock, Texas.
Sanders and his friend were planning on leaving Ćoho Night Club around 2 a.m. one night. They were waiting for a Uber ride when one of their friends got into a fight with the bouncers.
“After all of that stopped, it was pretty late and not many college kids were around anymore, so we called for another ride,” Sanders said.
They waited again, this time in an alley across the street from Ćoho, when a car pulled up next to them. A man got out and pulled out a knife.
“He pushed me against the wall and asked for my money, so I gave it to him without hesitating,” Sanders said.
His friend tried to hand over only a portion of his money. This irritated the robber, who began threatening murder. The man ended up taking a little over $100 from them. Neither of the young men was harmed.
Robberies and thefts are on the decline in Lubbock, which reflects a national trend.
The FBI estimates there were 333 robberies in the city in 2014—a rate of 138 per 100,000. This is down from 388 robberies—or 163 per 100,000 people— in 2013.
Burglaries and autothefts, which do not involve violence against individuals, are more common, but their rates are also declining. The FBI reports 2,288 burglaries in Lubbock in 2014, a rate of 946 per 100,000.
This is also down from 2013, a year of 2,608 burglaries at a rate of 1,096 per 100,000 Lubbock resident.
Photo provided by Hayden Yancer
But for Hayden Yancer, a junior at Texas Tech, the decline in burglary rates is no consolation. He recently returned from Austin to find his house burglarized and $17,500 worth of property missing.
Yancer and his roommates had been out of town for the Austin City Limits festival. Just about everything expensive was stolen, Yancer said. The case is still under investigation.
“They did get fingerprints,” Yancer said. “So we are waiting to hear back.”
The police found footprints and tire marks in the back alley. The back gate had been busted.
“They left the back door to my house open, and blocked the front shut with all of my couches against the door,” Yancer said.
Yancer and his roommates learned a valuable lesson.
“Since this happened, we installed a steel door, activated more alarms, and put up HD security cameras all over the inside and outside of the house,” he said.
Lubbock’s autotheft rate is also on the decline. In 2014, there were 766 vehicle break-ins, a rate of 317 per 100,000. By contrast, in 2013 there were 846 autothefts (a rate of 356 per 100,000).
Shelby Maresca is one Tech student who has experienced vehicle theft. Someone broke into her car while she was in the middle of her sorority’s recruitment.
“I had a training to make that morning so I was in a rush when I got to the lodge, where I left my purse in my car,” said Maresca.
She had heard a car alarm go off, but did not think much of it because everyone was talking and no one was allowed to leave the building. It was late in the evening when she realized her car had been broken into.
“They took our purses and attempted to break two different windows on my car,” said Maresca. “The cops came and took care of all of it, asked questions and took the report; it was about 1 a.m. by the time we actually got to leave.”
Maresca’s insurance and bank helped her cover everything that was stolen, but the incident made her more cautious.
“I double-check my car being locked and I always park in places that aren’t dark,” Maresca said. “And I keep basically nothing in my vehicle.”
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