Three homes hit by burglars over break

Despite University Police efforts to thwart crime over Thanksgiving break, three separate residential burglaries occurred.

A 21-year-old Penn undergraduate reported to police that the door to his apartment -- located at 315 S. 41st St. -- was forced open and several items were removed. The student said that a Casio digital camera, an Xbox video-game console and 12 Xbox games were missing. The value of these items totals about $1,500. The student said he left campus Wednesday afternoon and returned Sunday evening.

In a separate incident, a 25-year-old male Penn graduate student returned to his apartment at 4039 Chestnut St. to find several items missing. There were no signs of forced entry. The items -- which were removed between 7:30 a.m. Thursday and 10:50 p.m. Sunday -- included a laptop computer, a PlayStation 2 video-game console, assorted games and four DVDs. Police said that the value of the stolen goods is about $2,200.

A third burglary occurred between 6 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. Wednesday at the 4101 Spruce St. apartment of a 23-year-old male Penn graduate student. The student reported that a laptop computer, a digital camera and two PlayStation 2 video-game consoles were taken. The items have a total value of about $2,700.

Police would not speculate as to whether the three burglaries are related. They did say, however, that school breaks typically create opportunities for burglars because residences are left unoccupied with valuable electronics inside.

Police implemented special "safety checks" to monitor local residences over Thanksgiving break for signs of burglary, but they did not discover any crimes.

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