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Since the beginning of the semester a mere two weeks ago, Rowan University students have received three separate Rowan Alerts making them aware of four separate incidents involving thefts of cars or burglaries from cars on Rowan’s campus.
The first incident occurred in the parking lot outside of Chestnut Hall-1 on Sept. 8. The incident was reported to the Rowan University Police Department in the afternoon in which the student realized it was missing. No suspect description or further details were provided on this matter in the Timely Warning.
The next three incidents occurred over the past weekend. Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 in the Edgewood Parking lot, two car burglaries, in which the cars were entered by the suspect and belongings inside were taken.
The second vehicular theft was reported to RUPD close to 1:45 a.m. in the Holly Pointe parking lot on Sept. 15.
Though Rowan’s Public Safety office could not say if the perpetrator of these three incidents was suspected to be the same person, both Timely Warnings give the same description of a light skin black male suspect with a thin build, aged between 17 and 19 years old, wearing all black clothes, a black mask, and black and white sneakers.
The Detective Bureau of the RUPD is currently investigating this weekend’s occurrences.
While authorities work on investigating these incidents, Public Safety and RUPD want students to note that most campus thefts are crimes of opportunity, with car thefts and burglaries usually happening to cars that have been left unlocked or when owners have misplaced their keys.
Rachel Baum is the Lt. Commander of the Rowan University Police Department and offered some safety tips to students looking to protect their valuables while on campus.
“Do not keep valuable property inside of your vehicle. If you do choose to leave items such as backpacks or purses in your vehicle, make sure they are out of sight. Always keep your vehicle keys in a safe location. If you see something suspicious…call the Rowan University Police Department at 856-256-4911 immediately. Most importantly, do not invite strangers into Residence Halls and/or hold exterior doors open to allow non-residents into Residence Halls as this is where most crimes of opportunity begin,” said Baum.
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