Thief steals $4000 in goods from Quad

In the second such incident over the weekend, an unknown person or persons stole $4000 worth of objects after breaking into in the Coxe dormitory of the Quadrangle. And the resident of the room which was robbed said police told her that the thief probably has a master key for that section of the Quad. The thief stole a television, VCR, stereo system, telephone, answering machine and approximately 150 Compact Discs from the room, University Sergeant Keith Christian said yesterday. A resident of a room in the Bodine dormitory of the Quad reported the theft of possessions valued at $3260 on Saturday. College freshman Meredith Lane, whose Coxe 418 single was robbed, said she believes that there is a definite connection between the two thefts. "It was the same type of robbery . . . the same type of things were taken," Lane said. "[The thefts are] all in the same area. Bodine is right next to me." She said a police office told her that the police suspect that the thief holds a master key which opens all the student rooms in the a given section of the Quad. "The person obviously has a key," she said. "One key can open every door on Spruce Street." It is unclear how the thief could have obtained a master key. Quad residents said yesterday that Bodine is in the Upper Quad section of the dormitory while Coxe is located in Spruce Street House. Resident Advisors and other officials contacted yesterday did not know if the master key would open all Quad rooms or only rooms in a certain building. Lane said yesterday she went home to New York over the weekend for the holidays, returning to her room early Sunday evening to find the objects missing. She said she is sure the robbery occurred either late Friday or early Saturday. She said she successfully retrieved messages from her answering machine on Friday afternoon. But when she called on Saturday afternoon to check for additional messages, she received no response. Lane said she bolted her window and double-locked her door before she left for home. She said the room was still secured when she returned on Sunday. Christian said there were no signs of forced entry into the room. Assistant Dean of Spruce Street Brenda Ridley said it is possible that the robber possessed the master key. "I would be hard-pressed to think of another way [of breaking into the rooms]," she said. "There may be some other ways that security people may be aware of and I may not." Ridley said Lane's lock was changed following the incident. She added that Quad officials will meet this week to discuss whether they will change the Quad's overall security. In an unrelated incident, five men robbed a male University student in the 4000 block of Spruce Street at 11:25 p.m. on Sunday, forcing him to relinquish his wallet, checkbook, PennCard, several credit cards, and $20 in cash. Christian said the student was not injured in the robbery. In another unrelated incident, a man robbed an employee of The Roost restaurant on 40th Street between Walnut and Locust streets at 11:20 p.m. on Sunday. Christian said the man, who was accompanied by five friends, took $150 in cash from the employee. The suspect is 6 feet tall and in his early 20s. Christian said the man weighs between 150 and 160 pounds. On the night of the crime, he wore a black nylon jacket with a fluorescent patch on the left shoulder. Christian said the victim was not injured in the incident.

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