An 18-year-old St. Paul man is accused of stealing from students and employees at area college campuses, including Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas.
In two incidents, Marcus Cortez Funches, 18, sneaked into students’ dorm rooms at Macalester and made off with their personal belongings, according to two criminal complaints filed this week in Ramsey County District Court charging him with first- and second-degree burglary.
One student reported briefly leaving his room in Turck Residence Hall to use the restroom Feb. 16. When he returned about 15 minutes later, he discovered his wallet and wireless earbuds had been stolen, charges say.
Another student in the same dormitory reported his wallet stolen while he was visiting a friend down the hall the night before. He noted that a man he had never met walked into this friend’s room while he was there and asked for the time.
Many other Macalester students reported burglaries over the two-night period, with several students also describing a young man entering their respective dorm rooms and asking for the time after stating that his cellphone was dead, court documents say.
In a Feb. 11 incident at St. Thomas, a woman said her wallet was stolen from her bag while she was working her shift at the Anderson Student Center, according to a third criminal complaint filed against Funches.
She became aware of the theft after her bank and credit card companies started calling her to report unusual activity on her cards at Target, ATMs and other locations, charges say.
Surveillance footage shows Funches inside the Macalester dorm and the St. Thomas student center on the days in question, court documents say.
He is not a student or employee at either school.
When interviewed by police, Funches acknowledged visiting the campuses but said he didn’t know anything about the missing items.
He remains a suspect in other burglaries still under investigation at the schools, authorities say, and the Ramsey County attorney’s office is reviewing other cases against him.
Funches was charged in February with robbing a woman at gunpoint in St. Paul’s Summit-University neighborhood last winter, and has yet to enter a plea in the case.
He pleaded guilty to two motor-vehicle theft charges last month, court documents say.
The public defender assigned to handle his most recent case did not immediately return a call for comment.