Suspect arrested for library wallet thefts

A suspect was arrested for over 10 recent wallet thefts that occurred in the library.

Kristina Nishi, Writer

Updated: Feb. 24 at 11:05 p.m.

Campus Safety was informed by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department on Thursday, Feb. 23 that the suspect’s name is Minh Ngoyen. At the time of his arrest, Ngoyen, who is 46 years old, was using a student’s ID card as an alias.

“The LASD just informed us that [the suspect] had been arrested with a false name,” Campus Safety administrative operations manager Justin Shelby said.

As stated previously, he is being held at the central men’s jail in Los Angeles for felony charges. His bail is set at $20,000.


Jin Lee was arrested on campus on Feb. 18 for theft of students’ wallets in the Library. In addition to this, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department had a warrant for his arrest for numerous felonies related to property thefts, according to Campus Safety chief Ojeisekhoba. At the time of his arrest, he had multiple stolen items in his possession.

Lee, who is not a student at Biola, is suspected of targeting male Asian students in order to use their credit or debit cards, according to Ojeisekhoba. It is believed he would then charge the cards at Best Buy or Target, spending thousands of dollars in a short amount of time.

“We called Target and they cooperated with us,” Ojeisekhoba said. “We developed a good rapport with them, and they gave us video of the suspect using the stolen cards.”

Two weeks ago, two wallets were stolen from the Library. This began an in-depth investigation by Campus Safety, which led them to Lee, who is believed to be responsible for at least 10 to 15 other cases of theft.

“[This case] was on our radar for nine months,” Ojeisekhoba said. “We didn’t know who it was [at first], but we just put the puzzle together, which led to him.”

According to Ojeisekhoba, students did not recover their money or the losses from the card charges. Lee is being held at the men’s central jail in Los Angeles for the crimes committed on Biola’s campus and for the warrant.

0 0 votes
Article Rating