Students waiting for their food at the Panda Express in the Student Union on Wednesday. An employee of the on-campus restaurant was arrested Monday in connection with vehicle theft.
Kendal Asbury
The UCF police department arrested a suspect on campus in connection with vehicle theft and several vehicle burglaries on UCF’s main campus, police said in a UCF Alert Monday evening.
Antonio Holder, a 19-year-old employee at the Panda Express located on campus, was taken into custody Monday morning inside the Student Union, police said.
Holder was arrested on felony charges of burglary of a conveyance, third-degree grand theft of a motor vehicle and third-degree grand theft, according to the police report.
The victim requested their personal information be confidential under Marsy’s Law, according to Orange County Court of Clerk records.
According to the arrest affidavit, UCFPD patrol units responded to a report of multiple vehicle burglaries and a stolen vehicle in the B8 parking lot. The victim of the stolen vehicle reported his gray Honda Civic contained a blue Apple MacBook, a Patagonia duffel bag with clothing and two North Face backpacks.
The affidavit states the victim used his Find My App on his iPhone to track the MacBook, which pinged an off-campus address.
The affidavit stated that a law enforcement database search was conducted at the address where the MacBook pinged and it showed a female occupant of the residence had a white SUV registered to her name. The search also revealed Antonio Holder living at the residence.
The affidavit then states the suspect’s vehicle is a 2020 Chevrolet Utility.
Following a license plate recognition check, the vehicle was identified at various locations on and around UCF’s main campus in the early morning on March 30. The stolen Honda was seen turning on Central Florida Boulevard with the Chevrolet SUV following it off campus at 5:19 a.m., according to the affidavit.
The Chevrolet SUV returned to campus at 8:54 a.m., and using the last known location of the vehicle, police tracked it using surveillance cameras and found it parked near the student union main loading dock off Pegasus Drive, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, surveillance video showed the suspected vehicle park and a man, later identified as Antonio Holder, wearing a red shirt and black pants, exiting the front passenger seat at 9:01 a.m.
Holder is then seen walking inside the student union food court toward the employee entrance and was identified as wearing a uniform shirt for Panda Express.
From there, officers were able to make contact with Holder and place him in custody. They then found a set of Honda vehicle keys on his person following a search.
After being read his Miranda rights, Holder admitted to driving his mother’s vehicle, the Chevrolet SUV, onto campus to meet with girls, then stated he parked in Parking Garage B and met with a friend before heading to the B8 parking lot.
According to the affidavit, Holder stated he primarily drove the white Chevrolet SUV but was in the stolen vehicle at some point during the night of the reported incident.
Holder recalls following the stolen vehicle to the Wedgefield Park located at 20425 Mansfield St., where it was eventually parked.
Holder also states that a bag of wet clothes was discarded on the side of the road near State Road 50 and Lansing Street, and the MacBook was placed in his closet at his residence.
According to the affidavit, UCFPD detectives located the stolen vehicle and the stolen MacBook and returned them to the victim. Holder was later transported to jail without incident, according to the report.
UCFPD arrested a suspect in connection to a vehicle theft and several vehicle burglaries on UCF’s main campus, according to a UCF alert sent out on X Monday evening.
Courtesy of UCF
UCFPD sent out a UCF Alert detailing the incident in accordance with the Clery Act later Monday evening to all UCF students.
“There were no signs of forced entry in any of these cases,” UCFPD said. “The stolen vehicle had been left unlocked with the keys inside.”
UCFPD also stated in the alert that they believe there may be additional victims and encourage those who have been impacted to file a report with the department.
The affidavit can be requested at the Orange County Court of Clerks website.