Christmas came a day early for Elizabeth Richeda '09 and Cameron Weller '11 this year. On December 24, Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols called each student to let her know that Security and the Brunswick Police Department (BPD) had recovered their laptops, which a Brunswick resident had stolen from Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L) a week earlier.
On December 17, Richeda was sitting at a large circular desk near the entrance to the Hubbard stacks. Weller was working at a study carrel at the opposite side of the basement. Weller stepped away for about 45 minutes from the carrel she was using; Richeda went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
It was then that Brunswick resident Gabriel Shaw, 24, stole the two students' laptops.
According to security cameras at the entrance of H-L, Shaw walked into the library at 5:50 p.m. on December 17. He immediately turned downstairs, saw the two laptops unattended and slipped the computers into a backpack he had brought. Shaw walked out of the library at 5:55 p.m.
Weller and Richeda reported the thefts to both Bowdoin Security and the BPD.
But, Nichols said, "We had nothing to go on at that time."
Three days later, Shaw returned to the library. A male sophomore, who requested anonymity because of his witness status, recounted seeing Shaw on the third floor of H-L around 1 a.m. on December 20.
"I noticed this guy who had been walking around, doing laps around the floor," he told the Orient. "It's just weird to do that. He clearly didn't belong." He then asked a nearby student if the man seemed "sketchy," and they agreed that he did.
"He came up to us and asked us where the fifth floor was," the sophomore continued. After suggesting to the man that he try the front desk, the two students decided to report the man to Security.
"We were definitely conscious that the laptops had been stolen," the student said.
At that point, Security officer Rob Beal reported to the scene, and using the description the student gave him, he was able to find Shaw in the basement. After procuring identifying information, Beal escorted Shaw out of the library.
Later that night, Security found out that there had been an attempt to remove the projector hanging from the ceiling of the basement's Electronic Classroom. In addition, during a routine sweep on the third floor the next night at 3 a.m., a Security officer found a large wide-screen television apparently moved off of its wall mount in a side room.
Nichols said that Security immediately connected each library incident.
"We know from experience that when we have theft on campus the suspects often come back and hit us multiple times," he said.
With the knowledge of Shaw's identity, Security returned to security camera footage from the evening of December 17. As they expected, officers found Shaw entering H-L at 5:50 p.m. and exiting at 5:55 p.m. Knowing that the theft occurred within that narrow time period, Security contacted the BPD, which brought in Shaw for questioning on December 23. The BPD effort, headed by detective William Collins, got Shaw to confess to the laptop thefts.
"So many people had a part in solving it," Nichols said.
Luckily enough for Weller and Richeda, Shaw had not sold the laptops, nor even tampered with them. On Christmas Eve, Nichols called the two students to tell them their laptops had been recovered.
"One of my favorite parts of the job is returning valued stolen property to students," Nichols said.
"It was a great Christmas present," Richeda said.