Hanover Police officers are questioning and fingerprinting Theta Delta Chi fraternity brothers in their investigation of the break-in at Thayer Dining Hall two weeks ago.
Police Chief Nick Giaccone said the police actions are "normal procedures" and that Theta Delt is the starting point for the investigation.
Theta Delt Summer President Matt Bush '96 said the police contacted members in the house to question them. He said seven to 10 brothers already spoken with the police and were asked to give fingerprints and pictures.
In the early morning of July 28, police responded to a Safety and Security report that people were "running around in Thayer," Hanover Police Officer Steve Reid said in an earlier interview.
He said the students escaped without the four or five bags of "Snapple, Orangine, M and Ms and Pringles" they left behind. The police recently sent video tapes taken by security cameras to the FBI for image enhancement and recovered 13 or 14 fingerprints from the scene of the crime.
Bush said last night that Police Sergeant Frank Moran approached him on that Friday, the day after the break-in, to ask him if the fraternity had anything to do with the crime.
Bush said the fraternity has been fully cooperative and that he went down to speak with Moran last Wednesday.
He said Moran told him the fraternity is the "logical starting point" for the investigation because the thieves ran in the direction of the house and because Theta Delt's Wednesday night party ended around the time the burglary occurred.
"We've cooperated given our location and our party," Bush said, "and we're the only suspects in this case because we live in Theta Delta Chi."
Giaccone said the police are trying to develop other leads and that the questioning of Theta Delt members is "not an attempt to zero in on a brother."
But Matt McGill '96, the summer Coed Fraternity Sorority Council president, said he is upset at the way the police are investigating the burglary.
He called the questioning and fingerprinting of Theta Delt brothers "outright discrimination against fraternities" and said the fraternity is "being harassed by the local law enforcement community."
Bush said he fears further scrutiny by the police if the brothers do not give fingerprints. But, despite being "skeptical of the methods of the police," Bush said the fraternity will continue to cooperate in the investigation.
Giaccone said police use many interviewing techniques, and added that the police are still looking for clues.
He said the students do not have to give fingerprints or pictures but that it gives rise to "obvious questions … [about] why the people might not want to do it."
McGill, who was interviewed by the police because he was at the party, said he did not want to have his fingerprints taken because the police have no reason to suspect him.
He said when he said he did not want to have the fingerprints taken, the police told him that it made him look guilty.
