Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Student Residences Struck by Burglars

Three off-campus student homes were burglarized last week in a series of incidents which university officials said may be related.

The first incident occurred on Nov. 22 at about 1:15 p.m. in a house on the 3300 block of Prospect Street according to a etropolitan Police Department incident report.

As a Georgetown student slept in an upstairs bedroom, an unknown suspect entered the house through its unlocked front door. When the student’s roommate returned to the house, he discovered his laptop computer valued at more than $800 had been stolen, the report said.

Another incident took place at about 2:35 p.m. when Michael cCourt (COL ’05) confronted a woman wearing a Washington Redskins jacket in his house on the 1300 block of 35th St.

“I left my house for five minutes and when I came back there was a strange woman in the kitchen standing there,” he said. “She told me that my two roommates had let her in the house, which was completely untrue.”

McCourt said he told the woman to leave his home and she did so. No property was taken from the house, he said.

“She didn’t look scary at all. It was just unnerving standing there with this woman and wondering what was going on,” McCourt said.

A final burglary occurred at 3 p.m. in a house on the 3500 block of O St. A resident of the home, Margaret McNulty (COL ’05), was alone working in her room when she heard a downstairs door slam.

“I thought it was just my roommates coming in but about 10 minutes later I found a man standing in the kitchen with a bag,” she said. “He said he was lost and in the wrong house and I asked him what was in the bag and he said that it was just his stuff.”

The man left the house but when McNulty’s roommates returned, they noticed some of their property was missing, she said.

An MPD incident report said jewelry, a cellular telephone and a North Face jacket were stolen. The estimated value of the stolen items totaled $275, the report said.

The report listed the suspect as dark skinned male wearing a black knit hat and a black puffy jacket. Later, a woman wearing a Washington Redskins jacket was spotted looking into windows of area homes, according to the report.

Dave Morrell, Georgetown’s vice president for university safety, said Wednesday that he believed all three incidents may be linked.

“What we are seeing is a rash of burglaries taking place with a small group of two or three people involved,” he said. “Most of these we think could be related but we haven’t been able to directly associate all of these together.”

Morrell said many of the burglaries have taken place when residents have left their doors unlocked. He urged students to lock their doors and call the Department of Public Safety if they see suspicious people in the area.

DPS Director Darryl Harrison said Thursday that the university is in discussions with MPD to help increase the police presence near campus.

“What we’re trying to do is basically get an agreement to have joint patrols in the area. We’re pretty far along the way and we’re waiting to work out the details,” he said. “This will provide an extra layer of security for students and address order and maintenance concerns raised by the community.”

Harrison also said that DPS will immediately increase patrols in the areas where burglaries have occurred.

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