A rash of off-campus burglaries in East Lansing since students returned to campus for the fall 2013 semester have police on the search for solutions.
In many cases, including two Sunday morning incidents on Stoddard Avenue and Milford Street, victims said they unknowingly left their doors unlocked overnight, enabling suspects to steal valuables such as a 42-inch TV and cash.
Although East Lansing police Capt. Jeff Murphy said police cannot yet confirm whether there is a relation between the recent burglaries, he said it’s possible people from out of town could be preying on the carelessness of students.
“We’ve arrested people many times who come into town specifically to target students,” Murphy said. “(Students are) generally fairly trusting, and some have nice, expensive stuff.”
Marine biology junior Dylan McGee awoke in his house on the 400 block of Stoddard Avenue around 10:30 a.m. Sunday to find his roommate’s TV and a Blu-ray player missing from the living room.
“At first I thought it was a joke or my roommates trying to be funny,” McGee said. “Then it sunk in … someone broke into our house.’”
Police believe the burglary took place between 4:30-8:30 a.m. and involved two or more people, McGee said. At least two lost items aside, he said what concerned him the most is that the suspect went undetected.
“They could have walked to the fridge and gotten a sandwich and nobody would have noticed,” he said. “That’s pretty unsettling.”
When it comes to college students, Murphy said most burglaries involve the victims hosting large parties, allowing the suspect to go unnoticed in a crowd. In some cases, he said the suspect will take note of pricey objects in the house and come back for them later.
Along with locking all doors at night, Murphy said keeping record of electronics is the only way they could potentially be found.
“It’s important to record the serial numbers off items,” he said. “Otherwise, one is the same as the other … and there’s no way to recover it or charge the (suspect).”
Human biology senior Aaron Barto, a friend of McGee’s who was staying at this house the night of the robbery, said the thieves took money and a debit card from his wallet, but his phone and keys were left alone.
“I was just shocked people had the guts to come into the house when they knew kids were there,” Barto said. “It’s creepy to know someone was in the house.”
Despite the tendency of robberies around parties, Murphy said early morning attacks are rare.
“It’s fairly unique to have a house broken into in the middle of the night,” he said. “It’s more common during the day,” without the possibility of confrontation.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
