UCLA Security Captures Yard Burglar Suspect

Wanted for burglaries of Matthews Hall committed just hours after his release on probation, the suspected "Yard Burglar" was arrested in California yesterday on the campus of the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).

Andre K. Stuckey, Jr., 20, originally of Long Beach, Calif., was taken into custody when police spotted him hanging around UCLA dorm rooms. Released last Wednesday, he had been out of jail for only a week.

Stuckey, who pled guilty Dec.1 to the possession of goods stolen in a string of Matthews burglaries, was the subject of an intense city-wide search over the last week.

Within hours of Stuckey's release on probation, Matthews Hall was robbed again. A warrant for his arrest relating to those burglaries was issued last Friday, and MIT police and the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) increased patrols and added extra officers to the shifts.

Police are unsure how exactly Stuckey made his way from Cambridge to Los Angeles

One clue may be that one of the credit cards stolen from Matthews after Stuckey's release was used at South Station just hours after the robbery. The card was reported stolen, but when police responded, the culprit was gone.

"I've got to give him credit--he at least went to a warmer climate," said HUPD spokesperson Peggy A. McNamara.

At around 1 a.m. yesterday morning, police at UCLA took Stuckey into custody after seeing him loitering around dormitories there.

According to Nancy Greenstein, spokesperson for the UCLA police, while Stuckey was in custody, his fingerprints were run through Livescan, a national fingerprint database based in Washington, D.C.

His outstanding warrant from HUPD came up, as well as a warrant from police at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Stuckey is currently being held on the San Francisco State warrant in Los Angeles County Jail.

"We're very pleased today at HUPD," McNamara said.

On court records in Cambridge, Stuckey listed his occupation as a cashier at a Starbucks coffee shop in California.

In late November, Stuckey pled guilty to all nine charges HUPD lodged against him following an Oct. 22 arrest for a series of robberies in Matthews Hall, Thayer Hall and Weld Hall.

There were no burglary charges among these, but all related to the burglaries, including five counts of possession of stolen property.

Middlesex County District Court Judge J. Curran sentenced him to two years in jail--but suspended his sentence based on the 38 days Stuckey had already served in jail.

The court also ordered him to pay a $60 fine and $533.20 in restitution to his Harvard victims

Based on the terms of the suspended sentence, Stuckey will likely serve out his original two-year sentence now.

To try Stuckey now for the Matthews robberies committed after his probation, Massachusetts authorities must ask for his extradition for trial.

Court records obtained by The Crimson show that Stuckey has open cases in four states: Illinois, Washington, New York and California--where he is wanted on eight burglary warrants.

He has twice been convicted for burglary--although court records are unclear as to where--and once spent 54 days in jail as a result of one conviction.

McNamara said HUPD is conferring with the Middlesex County District Attorney to see whether additional prosecution is possible.

"The University police are in discussion with the D.A. to see what options we have to bring this individual to justice," she said.

Police stressed that students should not let their guard down.

"Just because the immediate threat is gone, the University police still recommend locking your doors," McNamara said.