Laptop thief still at large

A safe campus? That has been the question over the past month in regards to a recent breakout in theft on campus. The problem arises in the thefts of laptops which has shocked students, staff, and faculty alike. The span of these thefts has been noted to occur since late November through early January.

One case of theft occurred December 14, 2007 in Deming Hall. The victim was Thomas Most, a freshman software engineer, who recalled the short series of events that led up to the theft and then afterwards. Most said that he had come to his room and set up his laptop in order to do some work. He then went to the restroom, only to come out and see an unknown man leaving his room. This prompted him to investigate only to notice that his laptop was no longer in the room. His first response was to attempt to find and detain the unknown man who had just left his room, but found out later that the man had narrowly evaded Most. According to Most, “This was one of the freakier experiences of my life.” With no avail, he rapidly found his Resident Assistant who went through the proper channels and contacted Erik Hayes and Public Safety.

Erik Hayes, Director of Residence Life, responded to this incident as rapidly as he could as well. He worked in accordance with the Office of Public Safety to attempt to find this unknown figure somewhere still on campus with the network of security cameras that cover nearly all of campus. While doing this, the arrogance of the thief was noticed. The intruder was seen, parked in Speed Lot, walked inconspicuously across campus, entered Deming Hall, progressed to the second floor, and then stole the laptop, nonchalantly returning to his car, laptop in hand. After this, Hayes noted that they were easily able to obtain photographic evidence including the unknown man’s face, car, and license plate; all valuable information to be turned over to the police, which was done thereafter.

The soon after the incident occurred, the Terre Haute Police Department became involved in an attempt to capture the criminal. Procedures were followed, and Detective David Thompson was assigned to this case. According to Detective Thompson, he showed Tom the photo lineup of the possible suspects. Detective Thompson also received the video provided by Rose-Hulman which according to him, “It is a great video that provided me with information valuable to the case.” As for the on going investigation, he said that he has been able to narrow the possibilities to a few suspects.

Rose’s response to this incident was one of great remorse. Erik Hayes found the experience to be “a blow to the open-door policy, which we try so hard to maintain.” Erik also felt the experience to be a blemish on what has proven to be such a pristine safety record that the Office of Public Safety releases every year. Erik was relieved, however, to cite the information that thief was not a Rose student, but someone from the surrounding area entering campus. As a result of such a shocking and unprepared event, the institute assisted Tom, and the other student from Deming with their deductible of $750.

Now, while this case goes on, the Office of Public Safety still records numerous thefts across campus. These thefts vary in what was stolen, but fail to vary much in the value per volume. These items range from laptop computers to iPhones and along with varing in items, they vary in location, from Percopo to off-campus at the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity house on dates from November 30, 2007 to January 9, 2008. With current ongoing investigations, if you know any information that you might find useful contact the Office of Public Safety at extension 8590.