Three students had their cars broken into last week on the night of Aug. 5, and campus police are still in search for a suspect.
Jasmine Philyaw, a senior communication studies major from Evergreen, received a phone call from a campus policeman, informing her that her vehicle had been burglarized.
“I went outside, where I saw a police officer standing beside my car,” Philyaw said.
“My window was busted, and a few of my items were missing, such as my green apple Germ-X, a lot of napkins, an auxiliary cord and a charger.”
“The most damage was done to my window,” she said. “The items were not expensive at all, but I still feel violated and do not feel safe parking in front of Shackelford or any other parking lot, and I think Troy needs to do better with their surveillance.”
“My immediate thoughts after the incident were how silly it was to break into my car and take such small items,” she said.
“Nothing in that car was probably worth more than $40, and they still broke into my car.”
“If I had known that they wanted napkins and Germ-X, I would have supplied them with some, and I would have gladly gone to Wal-Mart to buy them the 88-cent bottle of Germ-X that they stole,” Philyaw said.
Robert Kichler, a sophomore information systems major from Semmes, was also robbed the same day; his car window also broken.
“Several items from my vehicle were stolen from me, like my watch, my (auxiliary) cord and my iPod,” Kichler said. “My window was busted into, and will cost $175 to replace.”
“I just wished it hadn’t happened,” he said. “When it first happened, I was in shock, and I knew I needed to contact campus police immediately.”
Philyaw is a resident of Shackelford Hall, while Kichler lives in Trojan Village.
Another student, living at Cowart Hall, also had her vehicle broken into the same night.
James Taylor, campus detective at Troy University, said that as of now, no one has been suspected of the acts.
“We haven’t identified anyone that’s on camera other than the actual residents of the room, so right now, we’re trying to identify on the cameras who’s who,” he said.
Taylor said the university searches for any trace of stolen items in local businesses, such as pawn shops.
“We are a part of what we call Leads Online, which is an agency that monitors pawn shops,” he said.
“We put all of our stolen items on that particular website, so that anytime new items are pawned, it’s a red flag.”
According to Taylor, the system will notify campus police which items were pawned and who pawned them.
“Right now, that is basically where we are for the stolen items,” he said.
Taylor said he believes that the campus will not experience many break-ins this year.
“I feel that this year will probably be one of our breakthrough years with either solving a lot of cases, or people just not doing it because of the technology and cameras being in place everywhere on campus,” Taylor said.
Regardless of his reassurances, those suffering because of these crimes feel the need for added security.
Philyaw encouraged all Troy University faculty and staff members to work on improving the university’s surveillance.
“I feel like I should feel safe while living on a college campus, and I shouldn’t have to keep checking on my car continuously,” she said.
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