“They found a way to disable the moped and kickstart it without a key,” Bates said.

Investigators suspect the mopeds mostly were taken by juveniles in Lansing, who they believe entered campus from Kalamazoo Street and made off with the stolen goods. MSU student involvement is not suspected.

Detectives pinpointed a location in Lansing where many of the mopeds were recovered, Bates said. She noted the mopeds’ original registrations were missing and appeared to be under repair.

Other mopeds were recovered in Lansing after police stopped several juveniles riding the stolen devices in the city.

Police are returning the stolen mopeds to their original owners as they are recovered.

MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said the main issue comes from students not locking up their mopeds properly or at all.

“They’re all crimes of opportunity,” McGlothian-Taylor said. She said the thefts went unnoticed because the perpetrators likely were young and blended in with students.

Even when students do lock up, Bates said some have not been taking proper precautions, such as locking the front tire of the moped with a U-lock.

“No one’s locking with a U-lock,” she said. “You can’t just assume it’s safe by locking the handle bars, because … they’ve found a way to get around it.”

Supply chain management freshman Ben Grider said he also has trouble with mistreatment of his moped.

“I don’t worry too much about it being stolen,” Grider said. “I’m more worried about people flipping it over. They tend to do that around here, breaking the mirrors and blinkers.”

The thefts remain under investigation.