Holidays yield no break for local crime

The winter holidays around UCF were marked with unfortunate incidents: a fatal car accident that claimed the life of a UCF student and Wackadoo's employee, a break-in at the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house and a shooting at a McDonald's restaurant near UCF.

Fatal car accident

Taylor Lauren Wynn was a health sciences pre-clinical major and had been employed at Wackadoo's for two years before her accidental death. She and another UCF student were driving on State Road 520 and Satellite Boulevard at 6 a.m Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 when she lost control of her car and drove into oncoming traffic. Her sedan was hit on the driver's side. It was raining at the time of her accident.

Jason D'Amico, a manager at Wackadoo's, knew Wynn for two years and described her as a spirited and positive person.

Sorority house burglary

The Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house was broken into early Dec. 15, 2011.

Sgt. Troy Williamson, police spokesman for the UCF Police Department, said that two police officers received a call around 5:13 a.m. from Richard Nacewicz, a Waste Management employee who was working on Greek Park. Nacewicz said there was a black pick-up truck parked by some bushes near the Sigma Chi fraternity house and two men running toward the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house.

Shortly after arriving at the scene, officers caught one of the men, Brandon Geers, 25, coming out of the house wearing latex gloves and holding a gold trophy. As the officers confronted him, the second man, Michael Minot, 27, left the house. Upon seeing the officers, he went back inside. He came back outside after an officer called out for him to exit.

At the time, several women staying in the house for the break were asleep upstairs, including house manager Laura Beinkampen, who said she could not identify either young man. Caitlin Cowart, a junior communications sciences and disorders student and president of Kappa Alpha Theta, did not recognize their names when she was told of the break-in.

Geers and Minot, former UCF students and Sigma Phi Epsilon members, claimed to know some of the women in the house and the break-in was their idea of a prank. When asked, however, neither of them could name anyone living in the house and confessed to trying to steal from the house. An officer and Beinkampen recovered a gold vase, a bronze vase, a decorative pot and a Nintendo Wii. A .40 caliber Glock 27 was found in the truck's glove compartment.

"We were very lucky the garbage man was there to report the break-in," Cowart said. "We are working with our faculty and UCF to improve our security and make sure these incidents don't happen in the future."

Cowart said she was glad nobody got hurt during the break-in.

"Material things can be replaced, but I was more concerned about our sisters who were still in the house," Cowart said. "We're happy everyone was safe."

Geers, who graduated in 2008, was charged with burglary to occupied dwelling and grand theft. Minot, who did not graduate from UCF, was charged with burglary to an occupied dwelling, grand theft and possession of a firearm on school property.

McDonald's-area shooting

Bradford Young was shot near the McDonald's across from UCF on Dec. 7, 2011. Detectives said that Young, 27, was shot after leaving the McDonald's parking lot and was found in his blue sedan a few blocks down University Boulevard. He was rushed to Florida Hospital East, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.

Orange County police officers investigating the crime believed the shooting to be drug related. McDonald's was shut down for a couple of hours as police looked into the incident.

Two suspects were later arrested and charged with first-degree murder in relation to the shooting. Tre A. Daniels, 20, was arrested the day after the shooting, and Demarcus Reddick, 22, was jailed on Dec. 15, 2011.

Police promote extra safety measures

Crime does not stop, even for the holiday season. Williamson said that crime even increases with the holiday break, as it provides ample opportunities for theft while students are away from their apartments and dormitories.

"The UCF Police Department urges students to lock up and take expensive valuables home while they are gone for the semester breaks," Williamson said.