University | 9:21 pm | January 26, 2013 | By Lorenzo Ligato

Theft strikes Morse, Stiles community

Ezra Stiles dining hall.
Ezra Stiles dining hall. Photo by Emilie Foyer.

In a Friday email to Morse and Stiles students, Morse College Master Amy Hungerford and Ezra Stiles College Master Stephen Pitti ’91 warned students to keep their doors locked and watch out for unfamiliar faces after an Ezra Stiles student’s wallet, phone and keys were reported stolen in a computer lab shared by the two residential colleges.

At the time of the theft, “a strange man was observed in the [computer lab] room, and some strangers were seen around Morse earlier today, in private areas of the college to which they should not have had access,” wrote Hungerford in her email. One of the individuals was a middle-aged man, Hungerford added, though she said she had no other information on the individuals.

The Yale Police Department has responded to the reports and the theft is currently under investigation, according to Hungerford. She urged students to be extremely careful in keeping entryway and hallway doors locked in order to avoid piggybacking undesired strangers into the gates.

The two colleges are currently frequented by workers addressing heating and plumbing problems, Hungerford said, adding that legitimate workers always wear “some kind of identifying gear” and that students are always notified when workers are scheduled to enter private areas to do necessary work.

According to the most recent annual safety report released last fall, 18 burglaries were reported in Yale’s 12 residential colleges in 2011. In particular, in the fall of 2011, Davenport College was hit by a string of thefts, with five computers and other valuable digital devices stolen between September and October.

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