UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — Three off-campus apartments of Washington University students were burglarized Wednesday morning while the students slept, university police said.
In an incident report, campus police said the apartments were in the same building on the 6600 block of Washington Avenue and were broken into between 3 and 8 a.m. The report said someone stood on a chair, removed a screen from a window and forced their way into the ground-floor apartment.
Once the suspect was inside, the person entered two other apartments, which were unlocked. Multiple gaming consoles and a television were stolen.
Campus police and the University City Police Department are investigating.
Campus police said they have been made aware of multiple break-ins at off-campus apartments in the last eight weeks. They said in almost all of the break-ins, the suspect or suspects got in by standing on chair or other objects and forcing open unlocked door or windows.
The break-ins have included ground-floor and upper level apartments.
The department sent security memos after previous incidents, but issues a crime alert after Wednesday's break-ins.
The campus police department said it has increased neighborhood security patrols and suggested the following precautions to prevent break-ins.
- Report suspicious activity immediately to police at 911 or go to the nearest emergency blue light telephone.
- Lock your door, even when you are at home.
- Lock the windows to your apartment when closed, even if you are home. Close and lock windows when you leave your apartment.
- If you have a sliding glass door, secure it further by placing a piece of wood in the track to prevent it from opening.
- Never prop open exterior doors or gates. If you see a door propped, close it.
- Don’t allow people you do not know to “tailgate” behind you into the building.
- When someone knocks at your door, don’t open it unless you know your visitor or you can confirm that the person should be in the buildlng.
- If you arrive home to find your door ajar, hear unusual sounds or believe your apartment has been broken into, DON’T GO IN! Go to a telephone and call the police.
- When you are away from your residence, leave your interior lights on.