The USM Police Department is urging people to guard their belongings following a rash of thefts on the Portland campus.
“In just a week, we’ve had six thefts reported and four of them were around the Sullivan Gym,” said Det. Sergeant Ron Saindon. “It seems to be a growing problem over the last week so we want to deal with it head on.”
On Jan. 5 someone reported his credit card was stolen from his wallet in the Sullivan Gym locker room.
The following day another person reported the theft of an undisclosed amount of cash from his wallet in the same location. The very next day a woman called the police after her purse was stolen from her car. Apparently, she parked her car in front of Portland Child Care Services, which is located next to the Sullivan Gym, and walked her child into the building. When she returned her purse was missing. There were credit cards along with cash in the purse, according to Saindon.
The police are investigating the possibility the thefts are related.
Saindon said the University may post a notice in public places warning the public to be aware of the thefts. A notice has already been posted on the locker room doors in the Sullivan Gym.
A more valuable theft was reported on last Wednesday when a computer was discovered missing from a Portland computer lab.
It was discovered that a Dell Optiplex computer, valued at $4,000, was taken from a computer lab in the science building on Jan. 1, but it wasn’t discovered missing until last week. The police were able to know the exact date and time of the theft because a computer log details when any computer is unplugged or gets disconnected from the University network.
All of the cases are under investigation.
Saindon said it’s not uncommon for thefts to increase in the winter months, especially over the holidays.
“There’s a greater need and typically more people are out of work,” he said. “A high theft rate is also a common trend in weaker economic times, like now.”
Executive Editor Steve Peoples can be contacted at: [email protected]