A Dining Service employee was fired earlier this week for allegedly stealing a student's leather messenger bag from a coat rack in the Moulton Union entrance. The bag, which initially went missing on October 25, was recovered last Friday after Security reviewed video evidence from a nearby surveillance camera, according to Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols.
"Based on that [video evidence], we interviewed the employee and obtained an admission," said Nichols in phone interview with the Orient. Nichols also said that the College has decided to handle the case internally and that the police will only become involved if the student victim presses charges.
The student, Rachel Eveleth '11, said that she does not intend to pursue the matter further. "I got the bag back, so I'm not pressing charges," she said.
According to Eveleth, the bag went missing when she accidentally left it hanging on a hook outside of the dining hall after leaving lunch. When she realized her mistake and returned for the bag at dinner, it was gone.
Eveleth said she immediately reported the disappearance to Security, and officers responded by interviewing her in her dorm that evening and keeping her up-to-date with the ongoing investigation. When the investigation revealed that her bag was taken by a staff member, Eveleth said she was shocked.
"I was kind of surprised it was an employee," Eveleth said. "I just assumed it was taken on accident. I had a hard time accepting it was stolen on purpose."
This incident marks the second time in the last eight months that a staff member has been terminated after being caught stealing on tape. In April, a college employee was fired after allegedly taking cash from a student's bedroom in Coles Tower. Unlike the recent incident in which the offense was caught on an official College camera, the theft last spring was exposed when the student installed a motion-activated webcam in his bedroom to catch the burglar in the act.