Over a month after he was confronted at knifepoint in the basement of his 10 School Street residence and fended off the assailant with a Tide bottle, Joshua Cippel '08 was accosted again Wednesday night in the same location. This latest incident, which occurred at about 9:00 p.m., is the third report of trespassing on the school-leased property since the beginning of November.
Cippel was coming up the basement stairs after dropping off laundry when he was "assaulted," according to the report compiled by Bowdoin Security. He attempted to pull open the door, which opens in toward the stairway, and found that someone was holding the door shut. He heard a voice say "F--- you, Tide man." The intruder then released the door, which hit Cippel in the head, causing him to stumble and fall backwards down the stairway.
Cippel then called 911, who dispatched Brunswick Police Department officers and a Brunswick Rescue ambulance to the scene. Bowdoin Assistant Director of Security Mike Brown picked up the report on a police frequency and dispatched College security officers to the apartment building. Cippel did not receive medical care, but did suffer a bruised right thigh in the fall.
When contacted by the Orient, Cippel declined to comment on the incident.
Cippel was also the victim of an attempted robbery in the basement of 10 School Street on November 3 of this year. The assailant in that incident brandished a knife and demanded money before Cippel struck him with the bottle of Tide laundry detergent on the side of the face, causing him to flee. According to Security, there has been little progress in the investigation of that incident.
Because he did not see the intruder on Wednesday, Cippel was unable to confirm whether it was the same man who had confronted him last month. Director of Security Randy Nichols said that it is "highly unusual in the criminal mind" for a criminal to return to exact revenge on a victim who had thwarted a crime.
"The whole incident is very strange," he said. "I've never heard of a robber coming back to seek revenge."
Responding Bowdoin Security officer David DeSchuiteneer, who was the first on the scene, said that he believed that an attack fueled by revenge would have been more malicious than simply holding a door closed.
"It seems that this is an individual who was trying to be a prankster," he said.
Still, according to Nichols it is too early to speculate on the details of the crime or the motivations and identity of the perpetrator.
The only thing that is certain, Nichols said, is that "we're dealing with an obviously troubled person who is a significant threat to the Brunswick community, not just Bowdoin students. Whether this was or was not a prank, either way it's a crime of assault, and when we catch this individual he will be prosecuted."
The two incidents involving Cippel have not been the only recent reports of suspicious persons at School Street apartments. On November 16, a female resident told security that a "scruffy-looking" man wearing a raincoat was peering through her bedroom window, which is located in the back of the house, near the door to the basement. The resident alleged that the man then attempted to enter the house through the front door, which was locked, before disappearing into the night. Responding officers found nothing upon arrival.
In response to the first incident regarding Cippel, Security oversaw the repair of several burned-out lights outside of the apartments in order to increase lighting around the house. They also replaced the basement door with a new one reinforced with steel, and installed new deadbolt locks on both the front and the basement doors.
On Wednesday, Cippel had locked the door behind him when he entered the basement, so it was uncertain whether the intruder had first tried to follow him down the stairs.
After this latest incident, Nichols said he plans to work with police to increase patrols on School Street, but admitted that "patrols will have a limited effect...there may be some nights where we can only get down there once or twice."
Nichols will meet with Brunswick police Friday to gather more information about the case and discuss further measures that might be taken to make the School Street apartments safer for students.
When asked whether he had considered recommending that the College discontinue its lease of the School Street apartments, Nichols said that it is "premature at this point to make any sort of recommendation," but did say that "there are issues with the area that we have some concerns with."
"Some students have expressed concern with some of the people who frequent the area," he said.
As for now, Nichols said students should take precautions when walking outside alone.
"Statistically, there is a significant lessening of risk when two or more students are walking together," he said. "The best protection is awareness."