Photo by Shira Saperstein
A string of five burglaries and attempted burglaries occurred on campus or within two blocks of the front gates over the past nine days.
The latest incident took place early Tuesday morning on the 1400 block of 36th Street NW. Last Friday, another student residence on the same block was burglarized. On March 17, an on-campus residence was broken into during the day. The string of incidents started March 15, with one burglary and one attempted burglary on the 1200 block of 37th Street NW.
A total of $10,000 worth of property was stolen, including two flat-screen TVs, a cell phone, jewelry, three computers, video games, a camera, an mp3 player, and cash.
In an e-mail, Joseph Smith, Associate Director of the Department of Public Safety, declined to speculate whether the four crimes from last week were related. The one similarity he noted was that all of the residences that were burglarized were entered through unlocked doors or windows.
“I would like to point out that in each of these cases the perpetrators entered through unlocked rear doors,” Smith wrote in an e-mail.
Smith did not respond to a request for comment about Tuesday’s burglary.
The University is urging students to take proper safety precautions. In an e-mail to the student body, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson and Vice President for University Safety Rocco DelMonaco reminded students to make sure their doors and windows are locked before going to bed.
“We double- and triple-check our locks [now],” Caitlin Devine (COL ‘10), a 36th Street NW resident, said. Additionally, DPS has increased its presence outside the front gates in recent nights, according to several students that live in that neighborhood.
“DPS circles this area now,” Simone Dyson (MSB ‘10), a 36th Street NW resident, said. “They went to every door yesterday making sure it was locked.”
DPS could not be reached for comment to confirm whether this is a new official policy.
