Two suspects, a man and a woman, are now wanted by detectives in
the St. Louis Police Department’s Ninth District in connection with
burglaries that occurred in Reinert Hall over Thanksgiving break,
according to Director of Public Safety Jack Titone.

In the week after the burglary, the two attempted, on several
occasions, to use checks stolen from rooms in Reinert, Titone said.
A 10-person DPS priority squad identified the suspects, using
surveillance videos, and gave their identities to the SLPD.

According to Titone, neither of the suspects is “related to
anyone here at Saint Louis University at this time, as far as we
know.”

He said the priority squad, which was pared down to two officers
after the SLPD took over the case, was unable to determine how the
burglars accessed Reinert without leaving any signs of forced
entry.

The squad, according to Titone, interviewed everyone with access
to Reinert during the break, including students, DPS officers and
staffers from the Department of Residence Life, housekeeping and
maintenance.

“We’re going to have a case if [the police] get these people in,
but we’re at the mercy of the investigators who have not only this
case but other cases in the Ninth District.”

Two other people were also apprehended, after a high-speed chase
with the SLPD, within 24 hours of the Reinert burglary, driving a
stolen car that contained items taken from rooms in Reinert.

“We feel they were involved in the incident or someone gave the
students’ property to them,” Titone said.

Based on a door alarm that sounded at 3:04 a.m. Saturday, Nov.
29, and a vehicle seen by surveillance cameras leaving Reinert
around the same time, Titone said that he now believes the burglary
took place on Saturday.

Burglars forced their way into a lockbox at Reinert’s front
desk, which contained room keys for the entire residence hall. They
obtained 21 keys and used them to access 12 rooms, most of them on
the first floor.

According to Director of Housing Argyle Wade, the burglars took
a total of 25 items, including laptop computers, jewelry, a gaming
system, cameras, DVDs, CDs and cash–with an estimated total value
of $12,263.

Titone said DPS issued lists of the stolen items to 20 different
pawnshops in the St. Louis area, but none have yielded results. He
noted that some of the items can easily be sold on the black
market, like laptop screens, which are now used for TVs in
cars.

Wade said the Departments of Housing and Residence Life plan to
offer personal safes in dorm rooms, which students may rent from
the school. “We’re going to offer something for students to secure
their personal property,” he said.