Four burglaries strike South Campus apartments during Thanksgiving break
UPDATED: Dec. 1, 2010; 9:01 p.m.
The same individuals may be responsible for four burglaries to South Campus apartments during Thanksgiving break when students were not at home, said Department of Public Safety Asst. Chief Mike Rathbun.
Apartments on 151 Winding Ridge Road, 121 Small Road and 520 Slocum Drive were burglarized between Nov. 23 and Sunday, as well as 220 Winding Ridge Road between Nov. 21 and Sunday, according to DPS crime records.
The burglars forcibly opened one of the apartment’s front doors, but the other three apartments were not forcibly entered, Rathbun said. The residents of the apartments said they secured their apartments, he said.
The suspects mostly stole electronic items, such as televisions and game boxes, Rathbun said. He did not provide the total cost of the stolen items.
‘It was a significant loss if you look at the total,’ he said.
Police patrolling South Campus discovered an apartment at 151 Winding Ridge Road with its door forcibly opened, according to the Syracuse police report. Police entered the apartment and saw mud tracks on the floor and the apartment in ‘disarray,’ according to report.
The two Syracuse University men who lived in the apartment confirmed to police that three TVs were taken from the apartment with a combined value of $1,400, according to the police report.
Two flat-screen TVs were also stolen at a 121 Small Road apartment, said a resident of the apartment.
The resident said she believes one of her roommates left the apartment’s screen door unlocked during the break. The last roommate to leave for the break departed Nov. 23 around 6 p.m., and the group returned to the apartment around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, when her roommates discovered their TVs missing.
It is fairly probable the same individuals carried out all the burglaries, Rathbun said, but he did not have a description of the suspects.
‘It is kind of unusual,’ he said. ‘My hope is that it never happens again.’
DPS and Syracuse police are working very closely in the follow-up investigations, Rathbun said. DPS has also ‘substantially’ increased patrols on South Campus, he said, but would not give an exact number of the increase. DPS will work to secure South Campus apartments in three weeks for Winter Break, he said.
— News Editor Beckie Strum contributed reporting to this article.
Published on November 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm
