Campus safety warns of unknown individuals entering residence halls
On March 15, Campus Safety warned students of two incidents involving two unknown men getting into three buildings on campus.
The first incident occurred on March 8. An unknown man was first seen in Solberg Hall at around noon and was later spotted at the Madsen Center at 12:45 p.m.
An email sent by Campus safety stated that the subject of the incident was described as “a black male, mid 20’s, wearing a grey hoodie with the logo ‘Champion’ across the chest, black athletic pants with a logo down the left leg, red or orange Nike shoes and a black headband.” This description matched the footage of the intruder taken by security cameras on campus.
Rick Tupper, the associate vice president for Campus Safety and logistics, said the man waited at the Solberg front door until a student swiped in. He then held the door for her and followed her into the building. The subject waited in the lobby for a while before following another female student to her room.
Tupper said there was more concern about the Solberg intruder following a female student to her door, rather than just gaining access to the building.
According to the Campus Safety report received by Rick Tupper, the subject approached the woman as she was unlocking her door and made comments about her that made her uncomfortable. He left immediately after the student went into her room. The student reported the incident right after the encounter.
“What happened out of camera view was that she was going to her room, he approached her and made some comments about ‘how beautiful you are, and how I wanted to follow you’ and just kind of creeped her out,” said Tupper.
The same day, the first subject was also seen in the Madsen. His presence was noted because he was not wearing a mask. The subject left campus in a car from the Madsen parking lot.
Campus Safety shared the incidents involving the first subject with the police department. Once he is identified, the Street Crimes Unit will notify him that he is no longer welcome on campus.
The second incident occurred March 13 at 4:30 a.m. in Bergsaker Hall. Two female students were sleeping in their room and awoke to find a man going through their belongings on the floor. When the subject realized the women had woken up, he fled the room.
The women in the room were the only people to see the subject. According to Tupper, they described him as a young man with a “platinum blonde short haircut.”
There was no security footage of anyone going in or out of Bergsaker around the time of the incident, which leads Tupper to believe that the intruder was likely someone who was already in the building. It is unknown whether he was a student or a guest of someone in the Hall.
“We’re seeing an increase of activities on campus,” Tupper said. “If people are getting into residence halls and finding unlocked doors, or in this case they’re finding women in the residence halls, it’s very concerning. We want to make sure students know they play a role in keeping buildings safe.”
Tupper advises students to lock their dorm rooms, even while they are sleeping, and to avoid letting strangers into campus buildings. If a student sees an unknown person roaming a building, they can call Campus Safety to identify the person.
