College Student’s Sneaker Collection Was Stolen While He Was Sleeping

While many people will soon be counting sheep in hopes of waking up to holiday gifts, a University of Massachusetts Lowell student had a rude awakening in November when he found that his sneaker collection had been swiped as he was sleeping.

According to local newspaper Lowell Sun, a 22-year-old UMass Lowell student invited an acquaintance he met at a bar back to his dorm room on Nov. 7. He gave the guest a mattress to sleep on, but awoke hours later to find that the good deed had gone sour. Court documents show that the student discovered a dozen pairs of designer sneakers missing from under his bed, along with a laptop and graphing calculator with a total value nearly $1,400.

Lowell resident Byron Lopez, 29, has found himself at the center of the investigation, as he’s allegedly been connected to the stolen sneakers and electronics. Lopez was spotted on security footage carrying a backpack believed to belong to the student, and when police questioned him, Lopez admitted that he met the victim that night and slept on his mattress. However, a search of Lopez’s apartment failed to turn up any of the stolen goods.