On Monday, a UF student was arrested after a man stole about $1,600 in merchandise from the UF Bookstore, University Police said.
Daniel Alejandro Fonseca, a 21-year-old UF history junior, was arrested on a charge of theft. Authorities took him to the Alachua County Jail where he was released Tuesday on his own recognizance.
At about 5:40 p.m. on Sept. 7, a bookstore employee saw a man carry several textbooks to an area out of plain sight between store aisles, according to a police report filed Monday. The man then put the textbooks — worth $1,660 — in his backpack and walked past the registers without paying, which triggered the bookstore’s anti-theft alarm, according to the report.
Surveillance footage showed the man entering the store with a seemingly empty backpack, walking through the store with two books in hand and then leaving with a significantly fuller bag, according to the report.
Dennis Barry, the UF Bookstore assistant director, reviewed inventory and said he believed the man stole five textbooks, according to the report.
Fonseca declined to comment on the arrest.
In March, he was found guilty on a charge of criminal mischief after police said he caused $400 in damages to a metal barrier at The Rowdy Reptile bar, according to a police report and Alachua County Court records.
