Thief breaks car window, steals electronics

Josiah Garber

With the news of valuable items stolen from an on-campus car, many are now taking extra precautions to prevent a similar crime against their own property. Though the owner of the car had locked her door, this still did not prevent the thief from breaking through the window and making off with a laptop among other items.

A passport and laptop computer of a 2002 EMU graduate was stolen from a locked car outside of Parkwood Apartments last Thursday night.

The car belonged to Kristine Sensenig, a former Weather Vane editor and first-year student in the EMU graduate program. Sensenig's boyfriend, Christopher Friesen, a December 2002 graduate of EMU, had borrowed the car and stopped to see a friend in the Parkwood Apartments, parking behind building 912.

Not expecting to stay for long, Friesen left his laptop sitting on the seat of the car. However, the short time he was upstairs in his friend's apartment - approximately 45 minutes - proved to be just enough time for someone to break the window and steal both his laptop and his passport.

"My boyfriend's laptop was fairly new and his passport was stolen. All his assignments were on his laptop and needed to be handed in," said Sensenig.

A current EMU student who lives in Parkwoods Apartments witnessed the entire event around 1:20 a.m., which was about ten minutes before Friesen left his friend's apartment.

The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said, "I saw what happened from out the window. I was sitting at my desk and I saw a car sitting in the parking lot. I then saw a guy who looked suspicious stand next to the car beside his. The guy looked around and broke the window."

The anonymous neighbor said, "I didn't want to overreact, it happened so fast and I always overreact." Sensenig said that the police had left the scene before the eyewitness shared this information. According to Sensenig, the police said that there had been an unusually high number of similar break-ins that same night, all thefts of electronics.

"It's a shock because I felt more safe on the EMU campus than I should. Now I know I can't make the assumption that it's EMU; I know now that it's not secure," said Sensenig.

This lesson comes at a high cost, creating an unexpected financial burden for Sensenig. Replacing the broken car window will cost $400. The total for repairs and damages from the theft is over $1,000.

Sensenig said, "If you have a computer or laptop make sure you write the serial number down because if something was to happen to it, then the police could track it down. We made the mistake of not writing it down. Please don't do the same."

Eldon Kurtz, director of the physical plant, gave similar words of caution to students in an email sent out following the incident. He urged students to discourage theft by keeping valuables out of sight, removing audio equipment, and locking their vehicles.