LXR Residents Weigh In On Break-Ins

Two Georgetown students woke early Saturday morning to find unknown men in their LXR Hall rooms.

In the first incident, at 3:30 a.m. Saturday, a student woke to an unknown man shaking her awake in her LXR dorm room. The suspect, who fled the room,was described as a white male with freckles, approximately six feet tall and of medium build. He was wearing a dark crew shirt, a striped maroon sweater and tan pants.

In the second incident, which occurred an hour later, a student woke up to an unknown man lying next to her in bed. The suspect fled the room when the student awoke and screamed.

The suspect in the second incident is described as a South Asian male, approximately six feet tall and of medium build with short black hair. He was also wearing a black sweater with a collared shirt and tan pants.

Following these incidents, some LXR residents have expressed concern about safety in their dorm.

Randy Aviado (COL '13) said the recent unlawful entries have caused him to be more careful.

"On a regular basis I do not actually lock my door," he said. "Now I think I might have to start doing that."

McKenzie Stough (COL '13), however, was not as worried.

"Obviously getting the emails was a little scary, but I feel like we do not have enough information to be really worried about it," she said. "I trust the security in this building." 

The incidents resemble other occurrences in which sleeping women in and around the Georgetown community awoke to find unknown men in their beds in 2008 and 2009. Though the specifics of the incidents often differed widely, the victims were always female and the suspects fled as soon as the victim woke up.

There were 11 break-ins of similar nature reported between 2008 and 2009 in West Georgetown, Burleith and Glover Park, The Hoyareported in April 2009. The suspect in many of those cases was described as a white or Latino man around six feet tall, of medium build and wearing dark pants with a collared shirt, according to The Hoya's report ("String of Break-Ins May Date Back to 2005," A1, April 24, 2009).

Similar crimes date back to 2005. In the 28 months prior to January 2008, comparable incidents occurred in the surrounding area about 10 times.

Smith could not comment on the resemblance between these and past incidents due to the ongoing investigations.

"There's an ongoing investigation and both Metropolitan Police Department and the Department of Public Safety are keeping a close eye on that area, and we're working to find information on both the cases," DPS Associate Director Joseph Smith said.

Despite the similarities between the incidents, Smith said that there was no definite correlation.

"I can't really say that there's anything that connects them," Smith said. "There's a similarity, but I can't really say that there's a definitive link."