Bowdoin Security and local law enforcement are working around the clock to close the case of thefts that occurred on campus this past Tuesday and Wednesday. The identified suspect is connected to other thefts in the Portland area, and he seems to be targeting Apple laptop computers and is focusing his efforts on college campuses.
According to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols, the suspect's name is known but has not been released as the investigation is still underway. The 30-year-old male has been connected to the theft of a professor's personal MacBook Pro laptop computer from his/her office in Druckenmiller Hall and a cell phone from the lost and found bin at the front desk of the Buck Fitness Center on Tuesday, as well as the theft of two MacBook Pros and one iPod from the second floor of Winthrop Hall on Wednesday.
He returned to the fitness center on Wednesday, but the individual working at the front desk did not allow the suspect to view the items in the lost and found bin.
A known thief from the general Portland area, the man is also suspected in thefts of Apple laptops at the University of Southern Maine (USM), Southern Maine Community College and businesses in Portland. Additionally, he is wanted on several probation violations and there are currently warrants out for his arrest, said Nichols.
The suspect's location is currently unknown, as are specific facts such as the thief's method of transportation to campus. In past cases, Nichols said the suspect is known to have worked with a female accomplice that drove a getaway car. It is not known whether or not the suspect has ties to the Brunswick community.
Security is working with the Brunswick and Portland police departments on the case, as well as the Division of Probation and Parole of the Maine Department of Corrections, USM Police and a criminal intelligence service.
"We're basically putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we've been working nonstop on it today, and that's pretty much all we've done," Nichols said on Thursday.
With the investigation on campus, he added, "A number of people had bits and pieces of information that turned out to be very valuable to us."
Plainclothes Security officers patrolled the campus on Thursday afternoon. Security received a number of calls to report suspicious persons who turned out to be the officers, behavior exemplar of the College's commitment to community policing, said Nichols.
A professor working in Adams Hall reported a suspicious individual to Security late Thursday afternoon, but after searching the building and those surrounding it, no trace of a thief was found.
Security has been utilizing its system of surveillance video cameras on campus to obtain images of the suspect and place him at locations at specific times. With witness reports helping to fill in the blanks, Nichols and his team have been able to piece together the suspect's criminal path.
In addition to placing the suspect in the vicinity and within the timeframes of the reported thefts, the cameras also captured tape of him scouting offices in Druckenmiller and Smith Union, looking for "crimes of opportunity," said Nichols.
Nichols sent out two campus-wide e-mails on Thursday, alerting the College to be on the lookout for suspicious individuals. According to the messages, the suspect's hair color has been reported as "reddish" but also as "brown." Still images from the surveillance tape show that he has dressed in light-colored dress shirts with ties, a grey blazer or dark coat, and jeans, sometimes wearing a backpack or sunglasses. Initially, he was described as looking to be in his early 20s, but his subsequent identification indicates that he is in fact 30.
On Wednesday, Daniel Dickstein '13 came back to his open room on the second floor of Winthrop at 3 p.m. to find his MacBook Pro laptop computer missing from his desk. After looking around, he noticed that the MacBook Pro belonging to his roommate Devin Shapiro '13 was also missing. Shapiro later discovered that his iPod was also gone. After checking with friends who may have borrowed his laptop, Dickstein called Security to report the missing computers.
"Everyone in my room was gone from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and [according to Security footage] someone was seen walking out of the building at 1:20 p.m. with two silver laptops," Dickstein said. He added that though his other two roommates' laptops were also visible in the room, neither were stolen.
The suspect entered Winthrop by following a student that entered through the south end of the residence hall, though the inner locked door was propped open with a jacket, which would have allowed the suspect to enter without trailing the student, said Nichols.
Dickstein said that he and his roommates have routinely left their dorm room door ajar, as it was on Wednesday, though they are now changing their habits.
"Everyone on my floor and all my friends in other dorms routinely leave their doors" open, he said, adding that he also knows people who tape down the latches of their doors so that they can close their doors without them locking.
Peyton Kelley '13, who lives on the same floor as Dickstein and Shapiro, saw the suspect at around 1:20 p.m. on his floor, and spoke with Security when they came to the dorm to investigate. Kelley, Dickstein and Shapiro all commended Security on their investigative efforts.
Though Nichols is confident that the suspect will be caught, he stressed that the campus should remain alert and report suspicious persons to Security.
"I don't have any information that he's particularly violent, however you can never count out that possibility," Nichols said.
Nichols and his team are meeting with the Brunswick Police Department today to present their reports and hand over all of their evidence.