The Eugene area has experienced an explosion of laundry machine vandalism and theft in the past few months. Thefts occur now almost daily, Eugene police and a representative from a laundry machine company said.
Several apartment complexes all over Eugene and Springfield have recently been hit by thieves breaking into the washers and dryers, stealing the money and severely damaging the equipment, Eugene Police officer Peter Kugler said.
Tom Bain, the Eugene representative for Coin Meter, the company that provides washers and dryers to several apartment buildings in the Eugene area, said thieves inflict $100 to $200 in damage to every machine, and they only get about $40 in quarters.
“Typically, what’s been happening is (the thieves) break in and chisel or cut the metal casing to the point where they can pry open the coin vault to get to the quarters,” Bain said.
Bain said he has been encouraging property managers to dead bolt all rooms containing washing and drying machines to prevent further burglaries.
“We hate to lose to vandals,” Bain said. “So dead-bolting all laundry room locks are some of the steps we have been taking to prevent these crimes.”
Kugler also said thieves will cut the pipes behind the machines, wrench off the area where tenants put in money and tip the entire machine over like a piggy bank just to get the quarters, causing hundreds of dollars in damage.
The most recent quarter heist happened Monday at a small apartment complex at 547 E. 14th St., Jennings and Co. property manager Tim Breen said.
Jennings and Co. manages more than 1,800 apartment units in the Eugene area and about 500 in the campus area. Breen said the companies leasing the laundry rooms are the ones that must pay the highest price because they repair the broken machines.
Several suspects have been seen by witnesses at a few different complexes, EPD officer Kugler said. He said one witness walked in on a male and a female suspect in the middle of a burglary a few days ago.
Another witness said she saw a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a backpack using a crowbar to break into the laundry machines at the West Fair Apartments on West 15th Avenue, West Fair Apartments on-site manager Renelle Sutton said.
A manager at the apartment complex at 1515 Hilyard St. said her complex was hit several times by thieves, forcing them to put locks on all doors into the laundry room. The manager, who refused to give her name, said all tenants must now carry a new key to get into the rooms, and the new locks have cost the complex more than $1,000.
Sophomore business major Andy Sun, a resident of the 1515 Hilyard St. apartments, said the break-ins have caused him and fellow tenants annoyance now that they must carry another key.
“I always forget it and have to go back to my room,” Sun said.
Kugler said the break-ins can happen at any time, and that EPD is doing all it can to prevent further burglaries. So far officers have been unable to find any leads because fingerprint sweeps haven’t provided any new information.
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