Clari Stewart
Triangle Reporter
This past Tuesday, several items were stolen out of the Arnold and Huston Residence Halls.
Arnold resident freshman Mary Trumm left her room at approximately 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday to head to lunch. She returned with her roommate, freshman Katie Yance, an hour later to find that both their computers and charging cords were missing. Assuming it was a practical joke, they spent the afternoon asking their friends if anyone knew anything about it. Later that evening, it became apparent that this was not a practical joke, but theft.
“We didn’t expect it which is why we thought it was a practical joke,” said Trumm. “It is sad because we all had a sense of community and trusted each other. We always left doors unlocked.”
Yance spoke with Arnold Resident Director Bonnie Spallinger on Tuesday night, and Wednesday both Yance and Trumm filed a report with the Dayton Police. The two described their computers, a MacBook Pro and Asus, but, according to Trumm, the officer said without the serial numbers it would be difficult to recover the stolen items.
“He was trying to help though,” said Trumm.
Huston resident Sophomore Elle Fields left her room around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon for Women’s Varsity Soccer practice. She then went straight to dinner and to the volleyball game. After the game, she got a phone call from her roommate, senior Katherine Nelson, asking if she had seen her computer charging cord.
When Fields got back to the room she noticed her MSI laptop and 3rd generation iPod Touch were missing along with Nelson’s charging cord. Neslon’s computer was in the room at the time of the theft, but was accidentally left concealed under a pillow and was not stolen. Nelson and Fields then spoke with Huston Resident Director Karie Harpest about the incident and filed a report with the police.
Since Tuesday, several emails were sent to students from the resident staff reminding them to lock their doors, to not let anyone in the dorms without scanning in and report any suspicious activity.
Today the dorm rooms in both the Arnold and Huston Resident Halls were searched by Resident Assistants in an effort to recover the stolen items. So far, none of the stolen items have been returned to their owners.
“We used to trust everyone,” said Trumm. “Now it is hard to trust anyone.”