A man walked into University Computers several years ago, complaining that the power supply to his laptop was broken, and he needed a replacement under warranty. The serial number on the laptop just so happened to correspond with that of a laptop that was previously stolen.
‘Something didn’t smell right,’ University Computers Director Jim Stone said. ‘So we told him to bring the computer in. When he did, we had two undercover police officers in the store, and they arrested him.”
Electronics have always been a popular item of theft and robberies. In Stone’s case, the stolen item in question was a laptop. However, the two robberies and one attempted robbery reported to BUPD in January around the Boston University Charles River Campus all targeted cell phones.
In the Jan. 14 attempted robbery on Bay State Road and the Jan. 29 incident outside of the Metcalf Center for Sciences and Engineering, the alleged victims were both on their cell phones when the incidents occured. Among various other possessions stolen in the reported Jan. 22 incident on Gardner Street, the alleged attackers took the victim’s cell phone.
BU Police Department Chief Tom Robbins said he attributed the high number of cell phone thefts to their accessibility and the effortlessness in reselling them.
‘The common consensus among people I speak to is that they feel safe when they’re walking down the street on a cell phone,’ he said. ‘They feel like they won’t get attacked.’
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Iris Mile said she is one of these people who feel safer on a cell phone.
‘People think of it as a defense mechanism,’ Mile said. ‘I still feel safer being on the phone while I’m walking alone.’
However, Robbins warned students that this mentality is exactly what puts them at risk.
‘My advice is the opposite,’ he said.’ ‘Hide your cell phone and your iPod.’ Put them in your pocket and keep them out of sight.’
Stone also said he ascribed cell phone thefts to the nonchalance with which students walk and talk on their phones.
‘Students walk down the sidewalks talking on the phones, paying no attention to what is around them,’ he said.’ ‘They don’t realize how easy it is to grab one from somebody very quickly.”
Stone said University Computers has a standard protocol for dealing with stolen electronics that are brought into the store.
‘If we are aware that something is stolen, we would call the BU Police Department,’ he said.’ ‘We would tell them that there is someone in the store with a stolen item and to get a car down here real fast.’
Although Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T officials were unavailable to comment at press time, Stone said he assumes a similar is in place to prevent activations of stolen cell phones.
‘I would hope that their computers would raise a red flag,’ he said.
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