Down the hall: residence hall thefts
SA residents claim crime, many fail to file reports
Chris Maggio
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News
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However, because some SA residents have failed to report crimes that they said have been committed, these records may be inaccurate.
Nate Demos and Alex Forconi, both freshman roommates, returned from semester break to find that someone finally had gotten the college textbooks he or she had always wanted for Christmas.
"My econ book was gone and I noticed it the first day I got back," Forconi said. "Then, two or three days later [Nate] realized his math book was gone."
Forconi noticed that "the window was hardly open and we definitely locked it before we left."
The men also are certain that, like their window, they also locked their door before break and wonder how a person could have gained entry into their room.
Both related the incident to their Resident Assistant, Drew McCaffery, who told them to file a report with Public Safety. They didn't.
"I just figured it wasn't worth the trouble," Demos said. "[The book] didn't have my name on it or a serial number."
Roger W. Adams, director of Public Safety and chief of police, probably would agree with Demos...to a point.
"Do you always get your property back?" Adams asked. "No. Unless you can identify your property, that's it."
Adams notes, though, that "sometimes you resolve things by no repeat offenses."
He cites the case of a laptop stolen from, appropriately, SA.
"[Public Safety Officer Travis] Peterman was able to trace that one down to a suspect in Reynoldsburg."
Public Safety does not have enough evidence to arrest the suspect, but they do have his picture. If he ever comes to campus, Public Safety will arrest him for criminal trespassing.
"I encourage everyone to report everything," Adams said.
Annie DeChellis and Jess Miciche, both sophomores and SA residents, returned from dinner one evening to a locked room that they are sure they had locked before they left.
"My purse was emptied out on the ground," Miciche, who lost about $40, said. DeChellis lost $120. The incident occurred before Christmas and neither filed a report amid the chaos of finals.
Last semester, sophomore Jodie Topp returned to a locked room that she also had locked before dinner. She could not find $20.
"I thought I'd just misplaced it," Topp said.
When Topp lost another $20 a week later, she became suspicious and filed a report with public safety.
Although Topp acknowledges that, in the second case, her door might have been unlocked while she was in the shower, she, along with DeChellis and Miciche, are concerned that the old SA doors might not be the most secure.
"[Public safety] said that they'd get people to fix the doors, but they never did anything about it," Topp said.
Adams urges students who share Topp's concern to cut out the middle man and file a work order straight to Facilities Management.
"I have the highest degree of confidence that Facilities Management responds to work orders," Adams said.
And if they don't?
"They need to repeat that or call Facilities Management," Adams said.
Legally, to prove that an entry has been forced, there must be evidence, like scratches around the doorknob.
Public safety has recorded zero forced entries in the past three years.
However, until every Capital student who believes that he or she has been the victim of a crime comes forward, that number will always be uncertain.
By Chris Maggio
Editorial staff
cmaggio@capital.edu
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