A four-day crime spree at Saint Louis University came to an end Monday morning with an on-campus arrest. Two officers from the Department of Public Safety and a St. Louis city police officer apprehended an 18-year-old man, who is suspected of committing six burglaries in the Village Apartments, as well as thefts in the Busch Student Center and Des Peres Hall.
“All of us felt violated since someone had gone through all our stuff,” said senior Lauren Taylor, whose apartment was burglarized. “It’s kind of hard to sleep at night knowing how easy it was to get in here. ”
According to DPS Director Mike Lauer, the suspect, currently in custody, is neither a student nor an employee of the University, nor does he live near campus. Lauer said that St. Louis’ circuit attorney had charged the suspect with several counts of burglary and stealing. He is not believed to have had accomplices.
Lauer said that the burglarized apartments seem to have been unlocked and that there was no evidence of forced entry.
“I must stress that in everyone of these [burglaries] the doors were left unlocked,” Lauer said. “It appears that [the burglar] was looking for unlocked doors.”
Both Lauer and some of the victims said that the incident should remind students not to take their security on campus for granted.
“It emphasizes the importance of locking your doors and being proactive about your safety,” said victim Ruth Krauss, a senior.
Lauer said that the burglar mostly targeted small electronic devices. According to Taylor, items stolen from her and her three roommates included laptops; three iPods; a Wii console, remote and games; a digital camera; and four boxes of Girl Scout cookies.
They estimated that the total value of the goods stolen from their apartment was about $7,000.
DPS was able to recover the stolen property and has returned most of it to the victims, according to Lauer, although Taylor said that she had not received her pilfered Girl Scout cookies.
While the first burglary in the Village Apartments took place early Saturday morning, the rest occurred on Monday morning. The suspect is also believed to have stolen some unattended items in the BSC and Des Peres Hall on Friday.
According to Lauer, the suspect was apprehended after one of the victims encountered him in his apartment on Monday. The burglar quickly fled, and at around 7:30 a.m. the student notified DPS and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The suspect was discovered and taken into custody about 45 minutes later.
Some victims were asleep in their rooms while the thief searched their apartments. Krauss was alone and asleep in their apartment while the burglary took place.
“Something really terrible could have happened to her,” McCollum said. “[The burglar] was pretty gutsy to have come into a lit apartment with someone in it.”
