A recent spate of burglaries has plagued students living off campus in University City and St. Louis apartments, Washington University Police announced Wednesday. Students have reported missing electronic devices, especially laptops-and in one instance, a student reported being at home and seeing a thief walk out his door with stolen goods.
WUPD Chief Don Strom said that, while in some cases thieves have forcibly entered residences, many students who reported burglaries said they had left apartment doors or windows unlocked.
“Certainly one of the things we see occur on too regular a basis is where people had their windows unlocked or their doors unlocked and the student has either left or is actually still in the house,” said Strom.
He said several students had reported seeing suspicious persons in the vicinity prior to the burglaries. In fact, the day after WUPD issued a crime advisory to students living off campus, several residents of 6627 University Drive decided to call the police about a suspicious individual who refused to leave the area.
Senior Rumana Hussain said a man rang the bell at her apartment building around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday. When Hussain opened the door a crack, a man told her he needed to be let into the building to deliver phone books. Hussain asked him to leave the books outside.
“I probably would have let him in if it weren’t for the email,” said Hussain. “The email made me cautious.”
Hussain said the man refused to leave, and launched into a loud and aggressive attempt to enter the building. Standing in the hallway, some students debated about what to do. Farah Tejpar, a senior, said her roommate decided to call University City Police.
“I was scared to leave my apartment because there was this scary guy glaring at me through the window because I wouldn’t let him in,” said Tejpar.
Eventually the police came and the man was subdued, said residents. University City Police did not return numerous calls yesterday.
Now, students say they are closely following the suggestions made in the crime advisory.
“We normally left our doors unlocked until we got that email,” said Tejpar.
Students living on-campus have also been warned to keep their doors locked and to be cautious. However, Strom said he does not believe the robberies were related to the string of laptop thefts on the South 40, and that laptop theft is simply a growing problem nationwide.
“Laptops are one of the number-one stolen items in the U.S.,” said Strom. “Who thinks anything about somebody walking down the street with a laptop these days?”
The crime advisory that WUPD sent out to students living in off-campus apartments informs them how to avoid burglary. Most importantly, said Strom, students should keep all apartment doors and windows locked even if they are at home. Strom asked students to call the police immediately to report a theft or a suspicious person in the area.
“There are steps that people can take,” said Strom. “They can focus on locking their apartments and on calling police about any suspicious activity they see in the area.”
The WUPD advisory also suggested that students ask for identification before allowing a maintenance person to enter their apartment and to leave on all interior lights when not at home.