Police: Former student breaks into campus building, trashes art studio

By Andrew Wegley

Click here for updates on this story

    LINCOLN, Nebraska (Lincoln Journal Star) — A former student of Nebraska Wesleyan University broke into a campus building and caused more than $8,000 worth of damage, according to police.

Benjamin E. Buras hasn’t been a student inside Lucas Hall, the university’s art building, since 2015. But he was arrested on Wednesday after police say he broke in on July 24 and threw paint all over a second-floor art studio, damaging room-darkening shades, walls, windows and artwork.

Wesleyan staff found a shattered exterior window on July 25 at Lucas Hall, where a self-portrait of an associate professor of art was among the items damage, according to an arrest affidavit.

Staff immediately suspected Buras when they discovered the damaged studio, citing an ongoing grievance they say the 38-year-old has with Wesleyan and its art department, Officer Jorge Dimas wrote in the arrest affidavit.

“Buras has sporadically contacted NWU demanding transcripts and art projects (be) returned,” Dimas wrote.

Video surveillance showed Buras entering Lucas Hall through the shattered window at around 8 p.m. on July 24, according to the affidavit. He was arrested on July 27 and charged with burglary and felony criminal mischief.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.