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Break-ins under investigation
By Austin Harris
Assistant Online Editor

> February 16, 2001

University Police have confirmed at least two recent burglaries in Student Apartments and several other break-ins, leading them to post fliers around North campus alerting students of the recent crimes.

Police said the most recent break-in occured Feb. 6. When Senior Shaw Lentz and his roommate, senior Brent McConkey, returned from that evening’s basketball game against the University of North Carolina, they noticed that their ThinkPads, CD changer, and VCR were missing. They immediately called University Police to report the theft, and officers appeared at the scene two minutes later as other officers patrolled the area searching for the suspect. According to police, the perpetrator apparently entered the apartment through an unsecure bathroom window, took the items valued at $6,421, then exited through the front door of the apartment, leaving the door open.

An anonymous witness phoned police at the same time as Lentz and his roommate, reporting that he or she had seen a stranger carrying computers and other electronic devices toward Rosedale Circle. The witness described the suspect as “a dark skin black male in his 20’s, 5’9” to 5’10”, average build, wearing a green jacket, dark pants and a bluish white yarn hat with chinstraps,” according to the crime alert. Since the night of the burglary, one additional witness verified the presence of the thief on campus earlier that day.

Univeristy Police Chief Regina Lawson described the theft as “not typical,” noting that the timing was “very strategic,” as many students either gathered in common areas or went to Lawrence Joel Veterans memorial Coliseum to watch the basketball game. Lawson also said that the suspect might have asked for the time or asked to borrow a lighter in order to legitimize his presence in the building earlier that day.

Two other break-ins at Student Apartments occurred earlier this semester, both on Jan. 30. The first, reported at 3:40 p.m., involved $30 in damage to a window. Computer parts totaling $1,085.86 were stolen from Student Apartments in the second break-in. Neither case has been resolved by University Police.

The Rosedale Circle area is highly trafficked, providing access to the university’s houses along Polo Road. However, because there is no physical barrier preventing strangers from walking on campus, the area has been criticized as an easy way to bypass the gates at night, according to lawson. As a result of the recent burglaries, University Police has increased its patrol of the area and has requested that additional lighting and an emergency phone be installed near Student Apartments.

Lawson added that there has also been “very preliminary discussion” of putting up a fence to block off unwanted foot traffic onto campus. “Student apartments are an easy target because it’s the one part [of campus] that you can get to without going through a gate,” Lentz said.

Students are encouraged to lock their room and apartment doors whenever they leave, even if for a short period of time. University Police also asks students to report anything unusual and suspicious immediately by calling 911 from any campus phone. “I recommend that everyone immediately check their windows and make sure they are functional and locked,” Lawson said. “People assume that they are safe because they are on this campus and they see the gates, lulling them into a false sense of security,” senior Kyle Covington, a Resident Advisor in Student Apartments, said. “The people that are doing this prey on that fact.”