Borough Police arrest three for coat thefts

Borough Police arrested one man and two juveniles early Sunday morning for allegedly stealing as many as nine coats from the Colonial Club coat room, Borough Police Lt. Charles Davall said yesterday. This incident may be indicative of a growing problem with coat thefts, not only at eating clubs, but on campus as well, some law enforcement officials say.

Kristen Wall '00 and Jene Chai '00, who had been at Colonial with a group of friends, first became aware that their coats were missing when they were unable to find them in the Colonial coat room.

The group left Colonial and encountered several adolescent males, one of whom appeared to be wearing a coat that belonged to Chai's brother, who had been visiting from Brown. After recovering that coat from the male, Chai and Wall saw additional coats sitting inside a pickup truck parked near Ivy Club.

Chai and Wall called Borough Police, who arrived on the scene at approximately 4 a.m. and arrested Princeton resident Jessie Carter and two 16-year-old Princeton High School students in connection with the alleged thefts, Davall said.

According to Public Safety Crime Prevention Specialist Barry Weiser, additional thefts occurred Saturday night in addition to those reported by Chai and Wall. "A witness observed and reported two juveniles in the [Colonial] coat room with wallets in their hands, exchanging money and giving each other high-fives," Weiser said.

Coat thefts have been on the rise in recent months, both in the eating clubs and on campus, according to Weiser. The arrests Sunday, however, were some of the first made in recent months in connection with the crimes. Weiser said eating club coat rooms, residential college common rooms and Dillon Gym have been especially prone to the coat thefts.

Weiser said he believes that the three minors arrested this weekend could be responsible for other on-campus coat thefts. "I'm very suspicious that these three were making this their little crime trap — taking coats and getting whatever they could out of them," he said.

Both Rockefeller and Mathey residential college common rooms have been the scene of multiple coat thefts recently, Weiser said.

North Face fleece jackets, particularly women's jackets, are the type of coats most frequently stolen, Rockefeller College Office Secretary Janée Serio said. "Since last February, there have been eight or nine North Face fleece jackets stolen from the Rocky common room during lunchtime. Also, one student came in and said her jacket worth $149 was stolen from the laundry room," Serio explained.

On April 2, three Mathey residents reported to the Mathey College Office that their jackets were missing from the Rocky and Mathey common rooms, Mathey Director of Studies Steve Lestition said.

"After an e-mail I sent out about that, I got a few responses, and it appeared to be a more serious problem," Lestition said. "There were seven jackets reported stolen during the two weeks before that e-mail," he added.

Public Safety has taken measures to end the dining hall coat thefts but has yet to apprehend anyone in connection with the incidents. "We've put up posters in the dining halls warning students not to leave their coats unattended, and we're sending [Public Safety officers] down to the colleges at lunch to watch and see if they can see anything."

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Lestition cited the unlocked doors of the Mathey and Rockefeller common rooms as a possible reason for the thefts. "Access through these doors means that the thieves may not be Princeton students," Lestition said.

He added that the prox system might be built into the doors outside the common rooms as a last resort. "We might have the prox system, but it's expensive to build into a building and it's a pain for students to have to prox themselves in," Lestition said.

"We'll have to keep being cautious," Lestition said. "There are very few jackets hanging in the common room area now," he noted.

Davall said coat theft occurs regularly in various eating clubs. "Coat theft occurs historically in the eating clubs," he said. "Theft occurs more frequently on the weekends when the clubs are more crowded."

Davall said he believes the best way students can prevent coat theft is to keep their coats with them at all times. "Most of the thefts we've had in eating clubs are because the coat rooms are left unattended," Davall said.

"These non-students are coming in somehow and finding unattended property. I know it is not always practical, but the solution is keeping control over your belongings," Davall said.

Dillon Gym has also been a site of frequent coat thefts, Weiser said. "The thefts are mostly from people not locking their lockers. But we've had thefts even when people swear they've locked them," Weiser said.

Weiser said Public Safety has unsuccessfully attempted several times to put an end to property theft in Dillon. "We're constantly trying to catch them," he said.