Editors Note: We corrected the name from Nitz Herman Lawrence to the correct name, Herman L. Nitz. We apologize for this error. 

On April 16, a COD student’s bike was stolen outside of the MAC building. The person who stole the bike, named Herman L. Nitz, was found unconscious near the campus area. He was later declared dead. The cause of death is unknown.

The student contacted the COD police department and submitted a report for the stolen bike. According to police, surveillance footage shows that the person who stole the bike appeared to be a middle-aged man.

The Glen Ellyn Police Department contacted the student and informed him that the bike was found near the campus area. The student received his bicycle from the Glen Ellyn Police Station. He decided to not press charges and later found out from the Glen Ellyn Police Department that the person who stole his bike was pronounced dead. 

 The following information was obtained from a FOIA request for the incident report. The 58-year-old man who stole the bike appears to have been unconscious but possibly had a pulse when an officer from the Glen Ellyn Police Department was dispatched to the intersection of Fawell Blvd. and Ramblewood Dr. at approximately 4 p.m. 

The first witness reported that she was driving eastbound on Fawell Blvd. when she saw a man lying face down just east of the intersection in the parkway. She immediately made a U-turn and began checking on his status when another individual stopped to help her.  

The second witness told officers that he saw a woman checking out the individual who was facing down on the parkway, and he pulled over and ran to the body. The witness reported that he turned him over and that is when other individuals began performing CPR. He advised there were nurses who stopped their cars and began chest compressions. 

The report states that the victim did not appear to have been hit by a vehicle and did not have any cuts or bleeding wounds. The officer who was dispatched to the scene reported that she found THC cartridges in the individual’s belongings. 

Nitz was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. The confirmation of the victim’s identity was followed up by the police officer where photographs of his belongings were attached to his report. 

The police officer was given a copy of College of DuPage’s surveillance footage. The officer’s report says the victim can be seen entering the MAC building and walking around the corridor. The victim exits the building through the same door. He looks around and takes the bike. After riding the bike, the victim starts walking while holding the bike. It appears that the victim stopped walking and collapsed on the sidewalk of west Ramblewood Dr. Officers made attempts to contact any family members associated with the victim with negative results. Hospital staff stated that they were handling contacting next of kin.