{
  "id": "2014-11-08-ucla-young-research-library-laptop-theft",
  "slug": "ucla-young-research-library-laptop-theft-2014-11-08",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of California, Los Angeles",
    "shortName": "UCLA",
    "state": "CA",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "BruinAlert",
    "enrollment": 40000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2014-11-08",
    "endDate": "2014-11-11",
    "type": "theft",
    "cleryCategory": "timely-warning",
    "headline": "55 MacBooks, One Smashed Window: A Weekend Library Break-In UCLA Police Cracked in Four Days",
    "summary": "A burglar smashed a window to break into the [Charles E. Young Research Library](https://dailybruin.com/2014/11/10/man-steals-55-macbook-laptops-from-yrl) over the weekend of November 8-9, 2014, and made off with 55 MacBook laptops worth roughly $33,000 from a storage room. UCLA Police Department [identified and arrested former student Seyed Ali Pakizehkar Hesari](https://dailybruin.com/2014/11/12/ucpd-arrests-student-for-yrl-laptop-theft) days later after a student at the campus gym recognized his clothing from police images circulated in the Daily Bruin.",
    "outcome": "Seyed Ali Pakizehkar Hesari, 29, a former UCLA student, was arrested on November 11, 2014 and booked on two counts of burglary. A search of his mother's home in Hollywood recovered an additional 53 of the 55 stolen laptops. He was later sentenced to jail time.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    },
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Monday, November 10, 2014, after the theft was discovered over the preceding weekend",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "UCLA Police Crime Alert: Burglary/Grand Theft. Sometime between the evening of Saturday, November 8 and the morning of Sunday, November 9, an unknown suspect broke a window to gain entry to the Charles E. Young Research Library and stole approximately 55 laptop computers from a storage area. The suspect is described as a man wearing UCLA Bruins-branded clothing. Anyone with information is asked to contact UCPD immediately.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Daily Bruin, KTLA, and ABC7 Los Angeles reporting on the initial police alert seeking the public's help identifying the burglar",
      "annotations": [
        "News coverage described police circulating images of the suspect wearing UCLA Bruins gear as they sought the public's help identifying him, a detail this reconstruction reflects, though the literal UCPD alert text was not reproduced in any available source",
        "The suspect's distinctive branded clothing became the key identifying detail: a student recognized it in person at the campus gym days after seeing the same images in the Daily Bruin",
        "The theft targeted a storage room within the library rather than laptops in active use by patrons, distinguishing it from more common in-the-moment laptop thefts from study areas"
      ],
      "characterCount": 426
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Reported November 12, 2014, following the November 11 arrest",
      "channel": "website",
      "verbatimText": "UCPD Arrests Suspect in YRL Laptop Theft. University police have arrested Seyed Ali Pakizehkar Hesari, a former UCLA student, in connection with the theft of 55 laptop computers from the Charles E. Young Research Library. Hesari was identified after a student recognized his clothing from images released to the media. A search of a residence in Hollywood recovered 53 of the 55 stolen laptops. Hesari was booked on two counts of burglary.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://dailybruin.com/2014/11/12/ucpd-arrests-student-for-yrl-laptop-theft",
      "sourceDescription": "Daily Bruin coverage of the UCPD arrest announcement",
      "annotations": [
        "This follow-up text is reconstructed from Daily Bruin's arrest coverage; UCPD's original public statement was not reproduced verbatim in available sources",
        "Recovering 53 of 55 stolen laptops in a single search is an unusually high recovery rate for a property-crime case in this archive",
        "The suspect was a former UCLA student, not a current student, employee, or member of the public, an ambiguous affiliation status distinct from most theft cases in this archive"
      ],
      "characterCount": 439
    }
  ],
  "context": "The [Charles E. Young Research Library](https://ktla.com/2014/11/10/55-laptops-stolen-from-library-on-ucla-campus-police-ask-for-help-finding-burglar/) at UCLA houses research collections and, at the time, a storage room of loaner laptops. Sometime during the weekend of November 8-9, 2014, a burglar smashed an exterior window and a second interior door window to reach the storage room, making off with 55 MacBook laptops [valued at approximately $33,000](https://applemagazine.com/55-apple-laptops-stolen-from-ucla-library-thief-wore-bruins-gear/22600). UCLA Police Department released images of the suspect, notable for his UCLA Bruins-branded clothing, and asked the public for help identifying him. The case broke [when a student working out at the John Wooden Center recognized the suspect's shoes, shirt, and sweatpants](https://abc7.com/suspect-arrested-ucla-laptop-computers-theft-stolen-library-charles-young-research-ackerman-union/391165) from the police images circulated in the Daily Bruin. UCPD detained Hesari, a former UCLA student, on November 11, and a subsequent search of his mother's Hollywood home recovered 53 of the 55 stolen laptops. He was [later sentenced to jail time](https://mynewsla.com/education/2014/12/01/man-sentected-jail-theft-55-ucla-laptop-computers/) after the case moved through Los Angeles County court.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "55 laptops stolen in a single break-in represents one of the larger single-incident property-crime losses in this archive, valued at roughly $33,000",
    "The case was solved unusually quickly, within about four days, largely because a campus community member personally recognized the suspect's clothing from police-released images rather than through forensic evidence",
    "Recovery of 53 of the 55 stolen laptops from a single search is a markedly higher recovery rate than most theft cases in this archive, most of which end without recovered property",
    "The suspect was a former student rather than a current one, illustrating a recurring ambiguity in campus crime reporting around individuals with a past but not current institutional affiliation"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Man steals 55 MacBook laptops from YRL (Daily Bruin)",
      "url": "https://dailybruin.com/2014/11/10/man-steals-55-macbook-laptops-from-yrl",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "UCPD arrests former UCLA student for YRL laptop theft (Daily Bruin)",
      "url": "https://dailybruin.com/2014/11/12/ucpd-arrests-student-for-yrl-laptop-theft",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "55 laptop computers stolen from UCLA research library (ABC7 Los Angeles)",
      "url": "https://abc7.com/ucla-laptop-computers-theft-stolen-library-charles-young-research-ackerman-union/389206/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Suspect arrested in theft of 55 computers from UCLA (ABC7 Los Angeles)",
      "url": "https://abc7.com/suspect-arrested-ucla-laptop-computers-theft-stolen-library-charles-young-research-ackerman-union/391165",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Man sentenced to jail in theft of 55 UCLA laptop computers (MyNewsLA)",
      "url": "https://mynewsla.com/education/2014/12/01/man-sentected-jail-theft-55-ucla-laptop-computers/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "theft",
    "burglary",
    "laptop-theft",
    "library",
    "timely-warning",
    "arrest-made",
    "recovered-property",
    "california",
    "2014"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}