An arrest has been made in connection with a series of break-ins at Harvard University dorm rooms in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In a campus-wide email sent out Thursday morning, Harvard University police said they arrested a male suspect on a burglary charge around 1 a.m. in connection with an unlawful entry that had just occurred at Canaday Hall.
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He is also being charged in connection with two of the four previous burglaries occurring in freshman dorms between Feb. 19 and 22.
The suspect's name was not immediately released.
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Harvard University police said they had previously responded to two similar burglary reports in Wigglesworth Hall on Massachusetts Avenue and Mower Hall, which is around the corner on Cambridge Street.
In both instances, students reported they were asleep when someone climbed through their first-floor window and stole laptops, Air Pods, a backpack and wallet from their dorm rooms.
Harvard University sent a campus-wide email out late last week to warn students to be extra vigilant. Campus police noted that although unlawful entries into occupied rooms are very rare, students should take several precautions to keep themselves and their valuables safe. This includes:
- Not propping interior or exterior doors at any time, holding an outside door open for strangers, or allowing strangers to “piggyback” on their access card.
- Keeping room doors locked at all times, even when in the room or when going down the hall for only a few minutes.
- Closing windows when leaving dorm rooms, even for short periods of time; not not disengaging the “ventilation stop” on first-floor windows; and keeping all property away from windows in order to prevent someone from reaching in and removing it.
If any student arrives back at their dormitory and it appears someone has broken into their room, police said they should not enter and should go to a neighbor's room to call authorities.
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The Harvard burglaries came after a similar string of burglaries were reported last week at Boston College.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Harvard University Police Department criminal investigation division at 617-495-1796. Questions can be directed toward the campus police department's public information officer, Steven Catalano, at 617-495-9225 or by email at steven_catalano@hupd.harvard.edu.
