Bikes ridden out of town
Asad Kiyani

During the exam period and over the Christmas holidays, a total of 12 bikes were stolen from the University Place Residence and an attempt was made to steal two more.

Four of the bikes were discovered to have been stolen sometime between December 1 and 6. Another eight were reported stolen on the sixth as well.

According to Mike Belanger, Director of Housing Services, when the first set of bikes was stolen, "There was no sign of forced entry." However, on the second occasion, the potential thieves apparently tried to crowbar the door.

On December 27, thieves were interrupted attempting to steal two more bikes. This second incident provided some idea of what may have taken place.

Peter Jorg, Manager of Security Services, says that a lady was looking for a friend who lived in University Place, but was so intoxicated that she mistook the light in the Bike Room as her friend's room.

Seeing people she took to be her friends inside the room, she knocked on the window, which scared off the would-be perpetrators. A short while later, after the incident was reported, WLU Security called in the Waterloo Regional Police Identification Unit.

The Identification Unit came "to see if they could lift any fingerprints at the scene or find any other physical evidence," said Jorg. "There were a pair of garden shears, found at the scene, but no prints were obtained from them."

"We believe the perpetrator(s) forced the door to the building on the south side to gain entrance," continued Jorg. "The suspect(s) then fled around the west side of the building…to a vehicle parked in the parking lot at Richmond Towers."

Unfortunately, due to the intoxicated nature of the sole witness, no description of the thieves was available.

The conclusion reached by the Waterloo Identification Unit, one that seems likely to Belanger as well, was that juvenile offenders had entered the building and stolen the bikes.

According to Belanger, "We had problems with kids just hanging around in the summer and after we took possession of the building we were doing renovations for four months, and that doesn't add to the security [of the building]."

However, this raises questions about the responsibilities of University Place residents and the security of the residence as a whole.

The only way that any person should be able to enter the building is either with a key (i.e. they live there) or by being buzzed in (i.e. they know someone who lives there).

While the perpetrators may have attempted to break in on December 27, they may not have needed to do so while students were still in the building.

"Its easy enough to get in," explained Belanger. "Sometimes people just follow others in or they keep buzzing residents and eventually someone buzzes them in, thinking that they're delivering pizzas."

"Kids can get in and can go down [to the Bike Room] on a repeated basis and that's likely what happened."

According to Belanger, the nightly duty dons are responsible for ensuring that all doors are closed and all entrances to the building are locked. It is also their responsibility to ensure that areas such as the Bike Room are secure.

"Typically, they make sure that doors aren't ajar and entrances are locked."

Asked if it is part of the duty don's responsibility to make sure that the Bike Room door is locked, he replied that, "Generally speaking, yes."

However, he is quick to remind that dons wouldn't know how many bikes had been stolen, if any, unless the owners were regularly going down and checking on them. "Once the bikes are put away, the kids don't usually go downstairs."

This also means that the staff cannot be sure when exactly the bikes were stolen. "We don't know if they were taken all at once or over a couple of nights."

In addition, says Belanger, "We felt more secure with 250 kids in there because it's like having 250 pairs of eyes looking around."

In response to this rash of vehicular thievery, University Place has stepped up its security. "We've changed door locks and door mechanisms and [Head Resident] Scott Mills has taken additional steps."

The matter is still under investigation by Waterloo Regional Police.