Incident
On Sunday, June 17, 2018 at approximately 7:20 PM, the MIT Police responded to MacGregor House, a residence hall, at 450 Memorial Drive, for a call concerning an unknown male who had allegedly stolen property from two dorm rooms and fled.
Suspect
The reporting party described the unknown male as: 6’0”, black male, mid to late 30s, clean shaven, with short hair. He wore a white or light blue button down shirt.
Summary
The reporting party stated that at approximately 6:20 PM on June 17, 2018, while in an upper floor of MacGregor House, she encountered a man she didn’t know emerging from a dorm room. The reporting party knew this man was not the resident of the room and confronted him. The man stated he was testing the fire alarms. An hour later the resident of that room returned and discovered his laptop was missing from his dorm room. Around this time, another student in the same hallway discovered his backpack, containing a laptop, iPhone, and library books, was missing. Responding officers performed a thorough search of the building and area, but did not find anyone matching the description of the suspect provided by the reporting party.
Suggestions
While victims of crimes are never to blame for criminal activity, there are some precautions that can be taken. In order to protect yourself and your belongings from theft and/or facilitate the recovery of your stolen property, MIT Police encourage you to follow these tips:
• Always lock your doors and windows.
• Report all tailgaters, report suspicious people/activity.
• See Something – Say Something: Immediately notify the MIT Police at 617-253-1212 or 100 from any campus phone if you believe a crime is occurring, has occurred, or is about to occur.
• Assure that door and window locks are in good working order.
• Don’t prop doors open.
• Document serial numbers of your electronics and take pictures of your valuables. Keep this in a safe place to provide to the police in the event you are burglarized.
• Register your laptop computer. Laptop tagging is now free for the MIT community, and is offered at the IS&T Service Desk in the Atlas Center at E17-106.
The MIT Police want to remind the MIT community that we are located in an urban setting and share many of the crime and safety issues that exist in any city.
The MIT Police are investigating this crime and request the assistance from the MIT community. If you wish to leave an anonymous tip please call 617-258-TIPS (8-8477).
Issued by
Sgt. Andrew Turco
MIT Police Department
617-253-1212