EVANSVILLE — A former University of Evansville employee is in custody at the Vanderburgh County jail after he allegedly pilfered women’s underwear from at least one dorm room, though investigators claim Brock had a trove of women’s undergarments stowed under a desk.

Twenty-year-old Zachariah Brock, the former employee who worked as a locksmith at UE, turned himself in Wednesday and reportedly agreed to speak with detectives. As of Thursday morning, he is being held at the jail on preliminary charges of burglary and theft.

Brock was scheduled to appear in Vanderburgh County Circuit Court on Thursday at 1 p.m., during which time a judge will set Brock’s bond according to the court’s local rules.

Brock traveled to Evansville Police Department headquarters Wednesday afternoon and spoke with EPD Officer Matthew Tevault regarding a separate investigation, an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case states.

“During the interview, it was found that Brock was employed with the University of Evansville as a locksmith,” Detective Jose Lewis wrote in the affidavit. “Brock told investigators, post Miranda, that he went into the victim’s dorm, without a work order, and stole some of her panties.”

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Lewis said Brock “looked the victim up” prior to entering their dorm room, and that Brock claimed he knew the victim from high school.

Before the police interview began, the head of maintenance at UE “uncovered a collection of women’s underwear in Brock’s desk,” Lewis wrote in the affidavit.

UE spokesman Noah Alatza released a public statement Thursday morning addressing the incident and said university officials had fully cooperated with law enforcement’s investigation.

“The university initially placed this individual on leave pending further internal fact-finding and, based on additional information, the individual’s employment has been terminated,” Alatza’s statement reads, in part. “While we cannot comment on specifics of this ongoing legal matter, we want to emphasize that the alleged actions of one individual do not represent the values or principles of our University. In all that UE does, the safety and security of our students come first.”

Alatza said the university and the EPD would hold a joint news Monday to share additional information regarding Brock’s arrest. Alatza also promised to provide updates as they become available and added that UE takes “allegations of illegal activity seriously.”

Houston Harwood can be contacted at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Police: Former UE employee stole women’s underwear from dorm