Vandals break into dorm room and trash student's possessions

Anish Shah ('09) came back to his quad in Riker last Saturday and found the ripped pages of his textbooks spread across the floor, along with smashed fruit.

He also discovered his valuables missing. Aside from $90 worth of valuables stolen, Shah estimated the shredded textbooks at $300. Shah had no idea who vandalized the room.

Shah lives with Jason Spadanuta-Castello ('08) and Jon Broehl ('09). His quadmates, though they did not experience as much damage, found rocks in their beds during an earlier incident.

"These problems have happened before," Shah said.

Shah proposed two ideas about how the perpetrator entered the quad.

He thinks it could have happened through the window or through the door if unlocked. Chief of Public Safety Thomas Evans believes entry was through the door.

"There is no way this was a professional burglary," Evans said.

Evans also speculated on the type of person who vandalized the quad. "[The vandalism] had the characteristics of a drunken person."

Furthermore, Evans believes the culprit knew Shah already.

Evans suspected a gathering occurred in the quad the night before the report was filed after Public Safety found a 30-pack of beer in the quad.

He attributes this to helping the crime. "You need to know who's at your gatherings," he said.

Shah's initial reaction was anger and shock at finding a room that had been ransacked, but it changed to annoyance.

Shah wants his glasses, hat, and flashdrive back. "If they put [the valuables] in a box at the door, that would be awesome. I don't even have to meet them."

Shah has positive feedback for Public Safety's report. "Public Safety was pretty helpful. They took notes down when they looked at the room. Nobody can really do much in a situation like this," he said.

Drew is one of the safest places in the world, according to Evans. Public Safety has an eye on the campus 24 hours a day throughout the year. Compared to other colleges, Evans said the campus has little theft and crime really does not exist. He said most of the problems are related to boyfriend-girlfriend arguments or roommate disputes.

Most of the theft comes from lack of common safety practices, according to Evans. "You and I can walk around [the residence halls] and find many [doors] unlocked with nobody inside," Evans said. "The students need to lock their doors when they leave their rooms. They also need to keep track of their guests."

Though Evans realizes most students do not keep large sums of cash in their dorm rooms, he recommends students get a lock box to keep valuables in. He also commented on the use of key FOBs at the doors to residence halls. Often students let other people who they do not know into the dorms when a stranger asks to be FOBed in, Evans said.

"Students allow local businesses to walk into the residence halls too," Evans said. Chinese restaurants, for example, place fliers in the residence halls and even knock on doors to student's rooms. Though restaurants receive fines for entering the residence halls, they often enter with the students' help.

Evans said it all comes down to locking the doors. Most of the time, theft occurs from inside the campus. He offers students this advice: "Keep your room locked. Know who's here. Watch out for each other."