Apartment burglaries persist on campus

By Jessie Wang and Saaniya Makandar Assistant News Editor and Staff Writer

Students on campus continue to report apartment burglaries, with four new instances being reported over the last 10 days.

According to a statement released by the University of Illinois Division of Public Safety on April 24, three separate University students reported that an intruder had entered their apartment without their permission on April 22. All the apartments were unlocked, and nothing was reported stolen.

A University student also reported that a backpack containing electronics was stolen from her apartment located in the 300 block of East Green Street.

“Police identified a suspect, who is under 18 years old, and retrieved the stolen backpack,” the statement said. “The juvenile was later arrested for trespassing at 11:06 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of East Green Street, Champaign.”

These incidents follow the multiple apartment intrusions committed by the same offender at the HERE apartment complex, located on the 300 block of East Green Street, last month.

Pat Wade, senior director of strategic communication at the UIPD, said in an email that every case of apartment intrusions this semester has occurred when residents leave their apartment doors unlocked.

“The University of Illinois Police Department has made several arrests related to apartment burglaries or attempted burglaries, but the issue continues to persist, often with repeat offenders,” Wade said.

According to Wade, the UIPD has “no reason to believe that the intruders mean any physical harm to the apartment residents, but (they) understand how alarming it can be to have someone unexpectedly enter your apartment.”

Residents can prevent further incidents by locking their apartment doors when they are home, Wade said.

Connor Uphues, a front desk employee at HERE, talked about some of the security measures around the apartment complex.

“There are various doors to enter but all require fobs to get in, and only the residents are provided these fobs for access,” Uphues said.

He said that “(HERE has) security cameras all around the building. People usually call us or email us about any safety concern and then we follow up with the security guard who is also usually present at the front desk.”

Anna Sonnenschein, sophomore in LAS, lives off of First Street and said she felt alarmed by the intrusions.

“I think it’s very concerning in terms of door security,” Sonnenschein said. “We need to really (emphasize) that everyone needs to be locking the doors to their apartments because I know a bunch of my friends just leave their doors unlocked.” jessiew4@dailyillini.com

Sonnenschein said she and her roommates always make sure their door is locked when they are not home and utilize a door stopper.

UIPD asks that residents immediately report suspicious activity by calling 911 or 217-333-8911 for nonemergencies.