Winter break crime in Isla Vista continues to fall as the Isla Vista Foot Patrol’s (IVFP) preliminary statistics show that authorities responded to a relatively low number of burglaries during this year’s break.

The IVFP dealt with an estimated five thefts that occurred over winter break this year, IVFP Lieutenant Sol Linver said. Last year, the foot patrol received reports of seven burglaries and during the 2004 Winter Break, authorities responded to at least nine break-ins.

“We haven’t had a rash of reports yet,” Linver said. “We have had at least five burglaries, which isn’t bad.”

The number of reported burglaries could rise in the next week as students return to Isla Vista and settle down.

“Right now students are busy with their schedules and buying books,” Linver said. “Sometimes they wait a couple days to report anything. The week is young; we are bracing ourselves right now to see what happens.”

Third year history major Juan Flores, who lives on Camino del Sur, said his house was broken into over break. Flores said someone took the screen off his bathroom window, crawled in through the narrow window frame and stole his laptop, iPod and backpack. Larger and more expensive items, Flores said, were untouched.

“I think they just took the smaller stuff because it wouldn’t be as obvious when they were walking out of my house,” Flores said.

Flores said he called the IVFP to report the break-in, but they were closed, so he called 9-1-1 and gave his report to the police. He said the officers were helpful, but he does not expect them to recover any of the stolen items.

“They pretty much said ‘we aren’t going to find your laptop,’ ” Flores said. “There was nothing much else they can do.”

Linver said the largest concentration of break-ins this year occurred during the beginning of the school year, when there were 25 robberies in one week at the beginning of Fall Quarter.

In December, Linver said, the foot patrol caught the thief who was responsible for seven of the Fall Quarter break-ins. Officers arrested a man who was in the process of breaking into a car and, upon visiting his place of residence, found stolen laptops and iPods connected to the old cases.

“I find that burglaries are like Lays potato chips,” Linver said. “You cant do just one. One burglary usually leads to another.”