Posted: 04/18/07

Townhouses burglarized
Multiple thefts occur on campus

Mike Morris | managing editor
mmorris2@smcvt.edu

A string of burglaries occurred in the early morning hours of April 18 on the St. Michael’s College campus. One or more burglars struck three Townhouses, one each in the 100s, 200s and 300s Townhouse areas.

Colchester Police Officer Joseph Rheaume dusts for fingerprints in Townhouse 213. (Kate Power, photo)

Director of Safety and Security Peter Soons informed the college community of the break-ins in an early afternoon e-mail.

“A flat panel television, iPod, laptop computers and DVDs were among the items stolen. Colchester Police is working with campus security in the investigation,” Soons wrote in the e-mail.

In a later interview with The Echo, Soons confirmed that the doors to all three townhouses were unlocked overnight, a suspicion voiced in his e-mail.

“The sad thing was that the common denominator was unlocked doors,” he says, adding that a lesson to learn for students is to lock all residence doors.

Senior Liz Clemente, a resident of Townhouse 213, had her flat-panel television stolen, along with her roommate Eileen Attridge’s iPod, which had both been in the living room.

Clemente says that the items were first noticed missing shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday, when Attridge and another roommate entered the house. They called security shortly after.

“We were all shaken up by the fact that we were in the house and there were some people’s stuff in the house and their money,” Clemente says.

“[The police said] someone’s probably stealing them to get money, not for personal pleasure,” Clemente says, adding that the police told her the stolen items would likely be sold quickly for cash.

“We’re working with the [Colchester] police,” Soons says. “They made contact with local pawn shops and vendors where items like this are sold.”

Senior Liz Clemente, of Townhouse 213, has a flat-panel television stolen. Here, where the television had been. (Kate Power, photo)

She says she believes that their items were stolen sometime between 2 a.m., when most roommates went to bed, and 6 a.m. when other theft victims awoke.

One of those students was Sheila Regan, a resident of Townhouse 102, who awoke at 6 a.m. for student teaching. According to Regan’s roommate, senior Jessi Eiras, Regan realized that they had been robbed only after arriving at her school.

Regan has been using Eiras’s laptop while student teaching; this morning, when Regan went to get it, it was missing, Eiras says.

Eiras says she received a text message from Regan around 10 a.m. At that time, Reagen and Eiras’ roommate, senior Jess Watts, called St. Michael’s security, who then called Colchester police.

Fellow Townhouse 102 resident, senior Kelly Murphy says that security found several items that had been stolen from their house behind the 100s and 400s dumpster—among the items were school supplies and Eiras’ passport. Still to be recovered are Eiras’ laptop, Regan’s school bag and wallet, and all the housemates’ DVDs.

The third home to be robbed was Townhouse 303, where senior Kelley Ouellette had a laptop stolen. Senior roommate Kimberly Poet says that, though the front door to the house was unlocked, the curtains were closed, meaning any potential intruder could not see inside the house without entering.

Ouellette’s laptop was sitting on the kitchen table, Poet says. St. Michael’s and Colchester police arrived, according to Poet, and they informed the residents that they believed the robbers were not St. Michael’s students.

Managing editor Justin Veiga contributed reporting to this article.