Four students' portable music players proved a little too portable Saturday as their iPods were stolen out of the visitor's locker room near Morrell Gymnasium. The digital devices were snatched from the bags of visiting students from Trinity College. Bowdoin Security and the Brunswick Police Department are investigating.
The bags containing the iPods were not in lockers. Since a nearby wallet containing cash was left untouched, the loot was taken in what appeared to be a burglary targeting only electronics.
The Trinity students were absent for four hours, which gave investigators a time-frame for when the larceny occurred. Tapes from nearby surveillance cameras recorded during that period did not yield any serious suspects, investigators said.
According to Assistant Director of Security Mike Brown, over 500 people walked through the area during those four hours and could have had access to the locker room.
iPods, the popular MP3 players made by Apple Computer, Inc., measure less than four inches by two inches and are easily concealable. No one on the tape was openly carrying iPods, which sell for as much as $499.
Although there are no solid leads at this time, Brown thinks it "more than likely that the [thief or thieves] will return to the campus."
"Typically it's the pattern of events that eventually does them in," said Brown. "They return and are found lurking in an area. Upon further questioning, a confession is netted."
It is unlikely, however, that the stolen goods will ever be returned to their rightful owners. Brown said that even if the criminals are apprehended, the electronics have likely been sold or traded already.
Locker room thefts are not new to Bowdoin. The recent theft "was certainly not the first time we have had [larcenies] in the locker rooms" Brown said. Although this theft is the first of the semester, students have had their possessions stolen in the past.
Josh Kierstead '07 knows this all too well. Last year, Kierstead had mistakenly left his bag out in the open. When he got back to the locker room, he found that some cash had been taken out of his wallet.
Vowing not to let the same thing happen again, he always locked his bag. Yet one day there were no open lockers.
In what Kierstead called a "sorta dumb move," he hid his stuff under a locker. When he returned, he found that his wallet had been emptied of all its money.
After that, he kept his gym bag in view at all times. Even when taking a shower, he kept it near him.
One afternoon however, someone crept up to his bag when he was showering, found his pants, took his wallet out of a pocket and grabbed all of Kierstead's cash, he said. They also took his loose change.
"Ironically," Kierstead said, "they left me one cent."