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Student Wakes to Find Intruder in Dorm Room
Christopher Robinson (COL ’09) awoke Sunday morning to find a man rifling through his belongings at the foot of his bed in Kennedy Hall.
Robinson said that he woke up at 9 a.m. and went to the bathroom. He returned to his room for a short nap before going to church, leaving his door unlocked. At around 9:10, he heard a man moving around in his room.
“I look over, [and] there’s a black male, squatting, looking through my backpack,” he said.
Robinson said the man promptly ran from the room. Robinson jumped down from his bed — which he said is raised four or five feet from the ground — and chased the man, hitting his hand on the wall, leaving blood.
“He could’ve had a gun, but that didn’t cross my mind,” he said. “I wasn’t scared at all. I just thought, like, ‘What if he took my wallet?’ and then I was like, ‘Oh, hell no.’”
Robinson said he ran barefoot after the suspect around his floor of the dormitory and down the fire exit that connects the Kennedy and McCarthy Halls.
Robinson said the perpetrator was five-foot-nine and about 18 years old, according to a Metropolitan Police Department incident report. However, he said that he suspects the man was not a Georgetown student, explaining that “he didn’t seem familiar with that [fire] exit.”
The suspect eventually escaped into McCarthy through the fire exit, Robinson said.
After the chase, Robinson contacted the Department of Public Safety, who subsequently called the Metropolitan Police Department.
A Sunday afternoon public safety alert sent out to the Georgetown community incorrectly reported that the burglary took place in McCarthy.
Robinson said he normally locks the door to his room.
Robinson said he was surprised by the burglar’s behavior and said he wondered whether he had some motivation other than the theft of valuables.
“My laptop was five feet away from the door, my backpack was all the way on the other side of the room,” he said. “I’m not sure if he’s an idiot or if someone asked him to do this,” he added. “To me, it seems like he was looking for something specific.”
According to the MPD report, the case is still under investigation.
DPS Associate Director Doris Bey did not respond to repeated attempts for comment.
Updated: 1:08 a.m., Feb. 22, 2008
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How do intruders get into dorms? Where are cameras at entrances? This is elementary security which is expected by all parents paying lots of money to educate and keep kids safe in their own dorms.
This has been going on long enough and I want some action.
Georgetown doesn't have a clue how to protect people or property. The efforts it does take make no sense and those that are obvious are not implemented or so poorly implemented as to be ineffective.
For a school in an urban setting (yes, Georgetown is in an urban setting), security is woefully inadequate.
Good luck getting a meaningful, if any, response from the administration!
It took me nearly an entire school year (3 years ago) to get them to replace the security door on Copley. An entire year. Prior to it being replaced, there was essentially unmitigated access to the basement.
Then again students don't help - lazy asses that they are, they'd rather jam doors, disable magnet controls, etc. than take the extra 30 seconds to walk to the front desk.
The level of negligence isn't anything new. What is new is the rise in on-campus crime from external sources. That was one thing that, even just 3-4 years ago, did not happen. Something changed in the last year or two.
I don't expect much to happen. My sad prediction: it's going to take the rape or murder (likely murder) of a student, followed by a huge round and criminal & civil litigation against Georgetown (get ready for those tuition hikes kids!) before actually effective policies will be implemented.
I don't want it to turn out like that, but I'm fairly confident this is how things will play out. sigh
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