Local teens confess to Forbes theft

Township police have arrested five local teenagers who confessed to breaking into several rooms in the new wing of Forbes and stealing electronics and alcohol.

The burglary was part of a string of thefts that took place during midterms week and over spring break, driving several students to sleep in friends' rooms as an additional safety measure. No students were injured, but several thousand dollars worth of goods were reported stolen.

Police picked up the juveniles at 3:30 a.m. Friday after receiving a call reporting suspicious activity on Jefferson Street in Princeton Township. The suspects, who were carrying large amounts of what appeared to be stolen goods, including DVDs and a keg of beer, admitted that they had stolen them from Forbes, Deputy Director of Public Safety Charles Davall said.

Burglars broke into two other rooms on the same hall over the past two weeks, stealing laptops, CDs and other items after breaking windows to gain entrance.

While it is still unclear whether the same individuals are responsible for all the recent thefts, Public Safety, Township police and Borough police are conducting a joint investigation to examine possible connections, Davall said.

As of yet, the suspects have only been charged with receiving stolen property.

Garret Traub '08, who spent spring break on campus to practice with Princeton crew, was asleep in an adjacent room when people entered his suite after cutting a screen and opening a window from the outside.

He said that the burglars took roughly 50 DVDs, a digital camera, a subwoofer and some alcohol while he slept. He estimated that the stolen goods are worth about $2,000.

In the two other cases — which occurred on March 13 and March 25 — two laptops were taken from Lindsey Hornbuckle '08 and Clelia Zacharias '08's room, and Kane Hochster '08's laptop was stolen from his room.

Hochster's roommate, Jorge Santana '08, had not yet returned from spring break when the thieves broke into his room. He came back to find his window shattered and his CDs missing.

— Brett Amelkin contributed to this article.