By Nathan Cohen and Robert Hadad-Zlokower
After an evening out with her friends, Nuzhat Quaderi came back to her Roosevelt Hall dorm room at Hinman College on the night of Nov. 3. She put her wallet on her desk and went to sleep. When she awoke the next morning, she noticed that while she was sleeping, someone had stolen her cash and credit cards and left the wallet.
The desk with the wallet on it was just three feet from her bed.
The crime was just one of a spree that occurred at Roosevelt Hall during a week-long period, Binghamton’s New York State University Police records show. In addition to Quaderi’s wallet, three iPods, a portable DVD player, a Nintendo Gamecube and video games were among the other items stolen from a dorm whose trusting and open atmosphere may have allowed the burglaries to take place.
Each item was stolen from a different suite, with no obvious concentration to any single part of the suite-style building.
The exceptionally social environment at Roosevelt may have led to the students’ losses. According to Investigator Dennis P. Bush from University Police, these thefts had one thing in common: none of the doors were tampered with. He believed that based on the evidence, the thief (or thieves) simply walked into the rooms and took what they wanted. Many residents here leave their suite doors open and don’t bother locking them when they go to sleep.
“I have yet to see any type of larceny or burglary [on campus] where a suspect didn’t just walk in and open the door,” Bush said.
“We have a thought that someone on this floor has a pile of iPods stacked in their room,” joked Polina Yeliseyev, a freshman political science and economics major. Yeliseyev had her iPod taken during the spree she believes occurred while she was sleeping. “Generally, I felt really safe and secure, but that week, there had been other incidents [which changed that],” she said.
But according to Bush, “it’s easy to get into these buildings — all you have to do is tailgate someone in there.” While investigating this story, these reporters proved Bush’s statement by following a resident into Roosevelt Hall; no questions were asked by the resident.
Unfortunately, police have no suspects in any of the cases.
Even after the incidents, responses varied. While some doors remained open, other residents became more careful. “We weren’t sure if we locked [the front door when we leave], but now we lock it,” said John Svitek, a freshman pre-med major. “We know almost everyone on this floor,” said Jeff Bravstein, a freshman engineering major. His suitemate, Svitek, who had his iPod stolen during the spree added, “You can’t go on not trusting people.”
But Bush gave an important piece of advice. If someone is trying to get into your building, “say ‘I’m sorry this is a secure building,’ then close the door behind you,” Bush said. And if that fails, Bush offered the ultimate solution: “It’s real simple. Lock your door.”