To The Dartmouth Community:
As many of you already know, the Department of Safety and Security and the Hanover Police are currently investigating several reports of intruders in student rooms in the East Wheelock Cluster over the Carnival Weekend. The most serious of the seven reported incidents involved an unidentified male who touched a woman who was asleep in her bed in Morton Hall. All of the incidents occurred in the East Wheelock Complex and involved unlocked rooms. Five of them were in Morton and two in Andres. Four of the reports concerned intrusions into women's rooms; three concerned intrusions into men's rooms.
-The first incident reported was at 5:14 a.m. Saturday on the fourth floor of Morton. The occupant of the room awoke when she heard her bedroom door close. The door was re-opened, and the person left tripping over a trash can.
-The second and most serious of the incidents occurred on the second floor of Morton. It was reported at 6 a.m. but occurred at approximately 5 a.m. A male entered the bedroom of a woman sleeping on the second floor. She could feel him touching her as he was crouched near the bed. She awoke, pushed his hands away, and the male exited the room.
-The third incident was reported at 10:30 a.m. Saturday but occurred at approximately 5:40 a.m. on the third floor of Andres Hall. The occupant of the room was awake at the time, heard someone enter the suite, and challenged the male. The intruder left the room, and the occupant tried to get him to stop as he left going down the stairs. The intruder was described as possibly 5'8", male, very slender, wearing a light brown jacket with waist cinch, dark pants, white baseball hat worn backwards with blue letters or a logo, possibly white high-top sneakers, and black ski-type gloves.
-The fourth incident was reported at 10:30 a.m. Saturday but occurred sometime between 5 and 6 a.m. on Friday morning on the third floor of Andres. The occupant of the room awoke when an unknown male entered his bedroom, returned keys to the occupant, and left. He was described as 5'9", slender build, college age, black hair, wearing a white ball cap.
-The fifth incident was reported at 2:43 p.m. Saturday but occurred at approximately 4:40 a.m. in the first floor of Morton. The intruder entered a male's room while the male was asleep. The intruder was crouched near the bed, tugged at the bed comforter, uttered something unintelligible, then rose and left. The intruder was described as male, heavier than medium build, 5'10", wearing a flannel shirt, college age.
-The sixth incident was reported at 5:21 p.m. Saturday but occurred at 5:15 a.m. on the third floor of Morton. The occupant of the room was awakened by someone opening his room door. The male intruder put his head in the doorway and left.
-The seventh incident was reported at 11:06 p.m. Saturday but occurred between 1 and 2 a.m. on the fourth floor of Morton. The person entered a woman's room, turned on the light, said "Oh," and left. It is uncertain if the intruder was a man or a woman.
In response to the initial reports, the Hanover Police, the Dean on Call, and the Dean of the College were notified. Scott Brown, Area Director, also sent a blitz message to the residents of the cluster alerting them to the incidents. The Department of Safety and Security composed a Crime Alert poster which was subsequently distributed throughout the campus residence halls. Detectives from Hanover Police, working with Security Officers, went to the East Wheelock Cluster to re-interview the victims as well as to interview as many residents of the affected floors as could be located. The reports are under continuing investigation.
The Offices of Residential Life, Safety and Security, and Student Life will be meeting with students to discuss ways of enhancing awareness of residence hall security issues and of preventing other incidents of this sort.
Dartmouth is a relatively safe campus, but we want to remind students of the importance of locking room doors. Anyone with any information about these or other incidents, or anyone with concerns about individual or campus safety, is encouraged to call the Department of Safety and Security at 646-2234.
