For the second time this semester a female student discovered a male intruder in her dorm room.
Between 4 and 5 a.m. on Feb. 15 a Portland Hall resident awoke to find two men, Scott D. Walsh, 19, a resident of Portland Hall, and Kevin Normand, 20, of Falmouth, in her room.
“The people fled when she awoke,” said USM Police Detective Sgt. Ron Saindon. The woman was not harmed.
The incident took place on the second floor of Portland Hall’s A Wing.
Saindon said he’s currently investigating why the men were in the woman’s room.
Walsh, a Southern Maine Technical College student, was charged with criminal trespassing and is scheduled to appear in Portland District Court on March 28. Walsh is also not allowed to return to Portland Hall.
Normand, a non-student who police believe was Walsh’s guest, was issued a trespass notice prohibiting him from returning to University property.
Police suspect the woman’s door was unlocked at the time of the break-in.
Though this is the first reported break-in this year at Portland Hall, there have been several other such occurrences on the Gorham campus earlier in the year.
On Jan. 24 two women returned to their dorm room in Gorham’s Philippi Hall and discovered an intruder in their closet. The man ran away after being discovered. Police still don’t know how the intruder got into the building.
University officials say break-ins are rare in Portland Hall, especially because of the tight security in the University’s only urban dorm.
“It is the first [break-in] I have heard of in Portland Hall,” said Mike Mullet, manager of the Department of Residential Life at Portland Hall. “It is unfortunate, but we reacted quickly and are giving the victim the help she needs to feel safe.”
Portland Hall has a person stationed near the front entrance 24 hours a day, as opposed to most Gorham dorms which staff front desks from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Police believe perpetrators often enter dorms after being let in by unsuspecting students and gain access to dorm rooms because many students leave them unlocked.
“The USM Police continue to urge residents to secure their doors both at night and when they’re not home,” Saindon said.
On Feb. 4 and 5, three break-ins occurred in Dickey Hall. In all three of the cases it is believed that the residents of the rooms left their doors unlocked. Many items such as bookbags, wallets and a cell phone were stolen.
But with the recent case at Portland Hall, it is not known if any items were stolen, or what the intruders’ intentions were.
“We’re looking further into the matter,” said Saindon.
No changes in security are being planned for Gorham or Portland, according to Mullet.
Staff Writer Lindsay Quinn can be contacted at: [email protected]