The suspects were charged with breaking and entering and attempting to commit a crime
AMHERST - A “bait car” placed by University of Massachusetts Police in a campus parking lot to entice would-be thieves led to the arrests early Tuesday of a 15-year-old Holyoke youth and a 31-year-old man from Bronx, N.Y.
Campus spokesman Daniel J. Fitzgibbons said the car, which is owned by the university, was placed in Lot 27 which is on the northern end of the campus.
Two plainclothes officers, watching the car, saw the two suspects break into it about 2 a.m., Fitzgibbons said.
Frederick L. Burgos, 31, and the juvenile were charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony and attempting to commit a crime.
Fitzgibbons said campus police have regularly used the bait car as a tool to combat vehicle break-ins on campus. “They have had some success in doing that,” Fitzgibbons said.
The bait car contains an old laptop computer and other outdated electronics “that’s basically not of any value but looks like it does,” Fitzgibbons said.