Phillips, a former College custodian, was charged with being an accomplice to theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy to commit theft, while Lewis was charged with two counts of theft. Since these charges, which were filed on March 7, there have been no additional charges brought against the two, Giaccone said.
The police had been conducting surveillance at Baker-Berry Library for over a week and were aware of the suspects' identities, according to Giaccone. Working with the Hartford Police Department, Hanover Police was "able to trace the steps of these two individuals as they disposed of some of the stolen property," according to a press release.
Hanover Police planted a new laptop in the library and witnessed Lewis enter Baker-Berry on Wednesday and exit approximately 20 minutes later, at which time officers suspected she had taken a laptop. Officers stopped the suspects' car on Webster Avenue and both were arrested, Giaccone said. Phillips also received a violation for driving without a valid license.
"Some [of the laptops] were trying to be sold online, others were through their different contacts, mostly trying to get money for drugs," Giaccone said.
The two individuals waived their probable cause hearing. The next step will be indictments, Giaccone said.
The timing of the next hearing "depends on when the county attorney wants to take the case before the grand jury, which could be 30 days to 60 days," he said.
At this time, approximately 75 percent of the 22 missing laptops have been recovered, he said. The laptops were "recovered from various different places, no real one location," Giaccone said. There is also a possibility that the two individuals were not involved in all 22 thefts, Giaccone said. The Hanover Police Department is following up on several leads, he said.
Heidi Meyers '14 was studying in the back of the fifth-floor stacks on Feb. 12 when her laptop was stolen, she said.
"I was actually debating whether or not to leave the laptop there, but there were a bunch of people sitting in the regular part not more than 10 to 15 feet away from me so I thought, Oh, it will be fine,' and I put a bunch of stuff on top of it so it was pretty secluded from view," she said.
After returning from the restroom, having been away from her desk for "around 45 seconds to a minute," her computer and charger were gone, she said. Meyers said she has still not had her laptop returned to her.
Sara Trautz '15 was studying on the fourth floor of the stacks in early March, when she said her MacBook was stolen when she left it unattended for around half an hour. Trautz's boyfriend's PC laptop computer, which was next to her MacBook, was still there when she returned.
During the third week of February, Kayla Kesslen '15 left her laptop inside her backpack on the fourth floor of Berry Library and left for an hour to eat dinner. When she returned, the computer was gone.
Meyers, Kesslen and Trautz have not had their laptops returned to them, and all three have since purchased new ones, they said. Meyers and Kesslen's computers have been located and are currently in police custody, but Trautz has not received any information regarding the whereabouts of hers.
"Hanover Police said that it's currently in evidence, so they have to get a court order from Vermont and from New Hampshire for it to be released because they were selling the laptops in Vermont," Meyers said. "They told me at the beginning of break that it would be a week, but I haven't heard anything."
Kesslen's computer has been located by police because she was able to supply them with her computer's serial number, she said. The computer is in police possession but not necessarily in Hanover because the laptop had already been sold. The computer will likely be held for evidence until the case is complete, which could be a matter of days, weeks or months, she said.
Victims agreed that the Hanover Police should have taken action sooner after the disappearance of the first laptops.
"I'm actually extremely disappointed that it took them 22 computers to do anything about it," Meyers said. "After four computers had been taken in the same area at the same time under the same circumstances, they had enough of a pattern, and I really think that they moved too slow on this whole situation."
Trautz agreed, saying that the sting operation was a good idea but could have been carried out more quickly after the disappearance of the first laptops.
"They were very responsive and helpful when it was first stolen, and the detective has been very nice that I've called a few times he's very helpful in updating me," Kesslen said. "The only way it could have been different is if they had security cameras in the library to prevent this from taking so long to figure out what happened, but because of the way the situation was, I was just thankful that I will get it back because I never expected that."
Giaccone said that "nothing to this extent" has happened in Hanover in recent memory.
Students must be responsible for their possessions, he said.
"Just because we caught these two doesn't mean it's not going to continue," Giaccone said.
Students interviewed agreed that they are now less likely to leave their belongings unattended in the library.
"I don't study in the library anymore, which may be extreme, but [the thefts have] made me kind of paranoid, to be honest," Meyers said. "It's just not worth it again, even if it's entirely improbable that they happened."
Trautz said that while she still leaves books unattended in the library, she always brings her laptop, computer charger and other valuables, including her phone and iPod, with her when she leaves her desk.
"With my luck, I'd get my computer stolen a second time, and I can't afford that," Kesslen said. "At least at the end of [last] term, I was super cautious, even if I was just going to Novack for a second I'd literally make sure I had someone watch my computer or I'd carry it with me."
Although Safety and Security assisted Hanover Police with its operations, Giaccone declined to give more details about the assistance provided. Director of Safety and Security and College Proctor Harry Kinne could not be reached for comment.
