A chain of break-in thefts is currently under investigation by the Longwood University Police Department after they received multiple reports of missing items over the past few weeks.
The crimes occurred in various dorm rooms of Longwood’s Frazer Hall, a living facility completely occupied by freshman residents.
The items include “money, makeup, clothing and other small items that are easy to conceal in a backpack or pocket,” as broken down by an email sent out by the department earlier today.
According to Longwood Chief of Police Robert Beach, the thefts would usually be classified as petit larceny but because of the nature of these specific crimes, they would be considered burglary, a class three felony.
Beach said the department has received a total of four reports since Feb. 18, though the actual incidents range from “sometime this semester” to just a few days ago.
“Lock your stuff up!” said Beach in a Tuesday afternoon interview. “The most difficult set of crimes to solve is property crimes because generally there are no witnesses. It is important to lock your stuff up.”
There are no security cameras in any Longwood student’s personal room, or on any of Frazer’s floors. According to Beach, the issue directly involves reporting what is seen in a timely manner. “A number of people knew about these incidents and never did anything. But when they saw three or four of them they said ‘well I better react,’” said Beach. “If you see something, say something.”
He added, “If there is something that looks out of the ordinary or you hear something and it strikes you as something that shouldn’t happen, it causes you no harm to call the police.”
Beach later clarified that the incidents did not all occur on the same floor of the dorm, though he did say there is a possibility the raiding of different rooms may be linked. “The reasonable conclusion is that the types of stuff that has been taken is one person or several people who are involved in the same activity,” he said.
According to Beach, there is no suspect at the moment and the department doesn’t have much information, but he is confident his officers will solve this case. “The key is getting notice early enough to stop the cluster of these crimes. I am confident we will come to a conclusion.”
If you have any information about these incidents or see any suspicious activity, contact the Longwood University Police Department at 434-395-2091.
