McCarthy Burglars Caught
Five juveniles found in possession of property stolen from McCarthy Hall residents were apprehended in the dorm by Department of Public Safety officers Sunday at 2:51 p.m., according to DPS Associate Director Sgt. Joseph Smith.
McCarthy resident Chris Reilly (COL ’12) found three of the juveniles in the elevator carrying his possessions. Reilly said that he left his room unlocked for five to 10 minutes while he took a shower on Sunday, and returned to find his computer and iPhone, as well as his roommate’s wallet, missing. He went immediately to the elevator to notify the front desk.
“When I entered the elevator I found three teenagers, one of [whom] had my laptop,” he said. At that point, Reilly asked for his laptop, and the teenagers gave it to him.
“They then began to leave [the] Georgetown campus, but were stopped by students until DPS arrived and detained them,” he said.
Two additional teenagers were found and detained on other floors of McCarthy.
“The Metropolitan Police Department was called, and the juveniles were turned over to their respective parents after being barred from campus,” Smith said.
Reilly added that his iPhone and his roommate’s wallet were found in a bush by a Georgetown student and subsequently turned over to DPS.
“It is not known at this time if the same juveniles were involved in the burglaries on Oct. 31 at McCarthy Hall,” Smith said.
Nov 17 2009 at 12:02 p.m.
Wait, wait, wait.
OK first of all, it again sounds like students did all the work here. A student found his stuff. A student caught the teenagers, and students detained the kids until DPS arrived. So I'm not thinking DPS should get a ton of credit for this.
And then no charges? No record? No detention or bringing the kids into custody? They got handed over to their parents and "barred from campus," which is literally a meaningless phrase b/c campus doesn't exactly have a door in and out.
Nov 17 2009 at 1:08 p.m.
Wait a minute. Something's fishy here. If these were "juveniles" - meaning, probably not students - how did they even get into Southwest Quad without a GoCard? Someone's not doing their job at those desks. A kid is a kid. A kid can also be a burglar.
Nov 17 2009 at 7:34 p.m.
I saw these kids and one of the girls admitted to getting a laptop. And what upsets me is the fact they will not be getting in trouble.
Nov 17 2009 at 7:59 p.m.
Actually, DPS deserves negative credit. When the gate guard first called the DPS office to report the robbery in progress she was put on hold.
And its seriously disappointing that they didn't make a serious effort to link this to the October 31 robbery. Two friends had laptops stolen then, and they want their stuff pack. When you look at how both robberies were conducted, and the suspect descriptions, it is CLEAR this is the same group of kids.
Nov 17 2009 at 8:49 p.m.
Is this a joke?? The "juveniles" in question weren't arrested and no one is pressing any charges? If I were one of the victims in Southwest Quad, I would feel incredibly violated that someone could be so atrocious as to go into my room, rifle around and steal my belongings---all without any punishment, save for being "banned from campus." I think it is truly unbelievable that they were just released to their parents with barely a slap on the wrist. But I can't resist saying this---really, guys? Walking away from your room for a long time (and yes, I consider even 5 minutes a long time for this) without locking your door???
On a side note, this is reason number 10000 why student guards are completely ineffective. It's nothing personal against them---the whole system is a little silly and just a way for the school to save money, by paying students half what an actual DPS officer would make.
Nov 17 2009 at 8:52 p.m.
This is why locks on doors exist....
Nov 17 2009 at 10:49 p.m.
What suspect descriptions? I don't see any description of the suspects in either incident save for the fact that they were juveniles.
Nov 18 2009 at 12:18 a.m.
I always harp on the need for security cameras. But if this is what we do when we catch people--let them walk away with a vague "ban" from campus--then screw it. No one cares about campus safety or security. Simple as that. This would be funny if it weren't so sad and appalling.
Nov 18 2009 at 2:42 a.m.
You wonder if Georgetown really cares about keeping students and the campus safe, or just hopes nothing too bad happens. From this, it looks like they couldn't care less about stopping crime on campus.
If only they put as much effort into crime prevention as they put into H1N1 awareness...
Nov 19 2009 at 9:33 a.m.
"Juveniles" simply sent home to their parents. I wonder the color of their skin..
Jan 22 2010 at 4:14 p.m.
once again idiots who dont check facts
MPD decided to not press charges. DPS works under DCGOV/MPD so wow what about that. And how mant DPS officers you think we got heck they have the smallest budget no weapons and only three working cars how can they get anywhere to stop a theft. learn the law and do some research.