ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. (Jan. 30) -- Stephen Ross headed to his car on the second day of the spring 2011 semester and saw it had been ransacked. He found his car lighter lying on the pavement and his iPod missing.
In the early morning of Jan. 18, a resident assistant reported two suspicious, unidentified males brushing snow off cars and looking into car windows in Shay Hall and Loughlen Hall parking lot at the university. Safety and Security officers responded to the resident assistant’s call, but the men had already fled the area. Three witnesses spotted the two suspects in townhouse and Plassmann parking lots, said Vito Czyz, director of the Office of Safety and Security.
Ross, a junior accounting major, parked in front of Townhouse 24. He had locked his car, but the suspects picked the lock on the driver’s side.
“I was kind of mad when I realized my iPod was gone and because it was only the second day of classes,” said Ross. “The cost of a new iPod is around $300. It’s going to take me awhile to replace it.”
Students, faculty and staff reported 11 vehicle break-ins. Czyz said he wasn’t aware that any of the 11 cars had been locked.
Robert Ryer, a senior physical education major, parked his car in townhouse parking lot in front of Townhouse 12. He left his car unlocked. Safety and Security officers woke Ryer up and told him his car had been broken into.
“I was mostly worried they had broken one of my windows,” he said.
The suspects stole a lighter, said Ryer.
Rob Conigliaro, a senior philosophy major, parked his car in front of Townhouse 21. He forgot to lock it the night before. The men didn’t find the Global Positioning System unit and iPod that Conigliaro kept hidden in a separate compartment. They stole $1.25 in quarters and looked through the glove box, said Conigliaro.
“Since then I have been double-checking that my car doors are locked,” Conigliaro said.
The suspects stole a Garmin Global Positioning System unit from Jessie Briggs, a sophomore psychology and political science major. Briggs said her car has manual locks, and the last person to sit in her passenger seat must have forgotten to lock the door.
“I wanted to be mad at my friends for leaving my door unlocked because I remind them all the time, but it’s not just their fault,” said Briggs.
Briggs said she has already replaced her Global Positioning System unit, and it cost her approximately $100.
Vehicle break-ins on campus usually happen about once ever semester, said Czyz.
Czyz said he didn’t know exactly how many surveillance cameras there are around campus.
Safety and Security officers try to patrol all the parking lots constantly, and they look for damage and forced entry at random. Czyz said they can’t be everywhere at once, and the university wouldn’t pay to have a Safety and Security officer in each parking lot.
The New York State Police and Safety and Security officers have investigated the break-ins but have been unable to positively identify the two men as Bonaventure students or as people from the surrounding communities. Students, faculty and staff are cautioned to keep their car doors locked at all times, said Czyz.
The suspects stole four Global Positioning System units, an iPod and a steering wheel cover. The stolen items totaled less than $1,000, said Czyz.
“I’ve been a victim of crime too. I’ve had things stolen from my house and from my vehicle, so I know how it feels. You feel violated. Your space is violated and you want answers,” said Czyz.
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