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Police investigate thefts in Bachelor Hall offices

Faculty offices in Bachelor Hall have fallen victim to recent thefts.
Faculty offices in Bachelor Hall have fallen victim to recent thefts.

Emily Glaser, For The Miami Student

Faculty offices in Bachelor Hall have fallen victim to recent thefts. (SAMANTHA LUDINGTON | The Miami Student)

Two Miami University faculty members reported their locked offices in Bachelor Hall were broken into in the first two weeks of February, according to Miami University Police Department (MUPD) crime alerts.

The two professors reported unknown suspects stole textbooks and other items. 

Lecturer Paula Byrkett said she was teaching a class when her office was broken into Feb. 3. Her purse and two textbooks were stolen.

"About a half hour after I got back into my office, I was getting ready to leave, so I started looking for my purse," Byrkett said. "I thought I had just misplaced it. I called my cell phone immediately because I knew it was turned on and fully charged, and it went straight to voicemail. Someone had turned it off."

According to MUPD Lt. Benjamin Spilman, this isn't the first time offices in Bachelor have been targeted. A similar incident was also reported Nov. 4.

According to an MUPD employee, the November case is no longer being investigated unless a suspect comes forward.

The crime alert from Feb. 16 said "Miami University Police are investigating this and several similar, previously reported incidents in Bachelor Hall."

Byrkett said she believes someone broke into her office and stole textbooks twice in the past, but she did not report the previous two incidents to police.

"The more (my co-workers) talk about this, the more incidents we become aware of," Byrkett said. "We have so many textbooks in our office, we don't realize sometimes that they are missing."

According to Spilman, textbooks are stolen because they are easy to sell online for top dollar.

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Spilman said during the day Bachelor is essentially a public building.

"Door locks are the primary line of security," Spilman said. "There is no access control that would prevent someone who is not affiliated with the university from entering the building."

Jennifer Eden, a visiting assistant professor, reported a computer adaptor cord and several textbooks were missing from her office sometime between 5:30 p.m Feb. 14 and 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15.

"I noticed right away because the books on my bookshelf were kind of tousled, not the way I normally leave them," Eden said. "The stack I normally have was much smaller."

Sophomore Becca Taustine has a lot of classes in Bachelor. She said the reported thefts left her feeling uneasy.

"It makes you uncomfortable to think that something like that can happen right under your nose," Taustine said. "It's just scary."

According to Spilman, there are no current suspects in either case, but officers are still investigating the reported crimes.

"The first thing we are encouraging people to do is make sure they lock their doors," Spilman said. "We want to make sure people are aware of this problem so they pay attention to people who might not belong in the building so we can check them out and make sure they do in fact have a reason for being there." 

According to Spilman, there have been no similar break-ins in other academic buildings this year.