Laptops Stolen From Quincy House

Two laptop computers were stolen from a Quincy House suite on Thursday, said Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) spokesperson Steven G. Catalano.

HUPD has not arrested anyone for the laptop thefts, the first to occur in Quincy House this year, according to Allston Burr Senior Tutor Maria Trumpler.

The laptops were stolen from the third floor New Quincy bedrooms of Lauren S. Hirshon ’03 and suitemate Renee J. Gasgarth ’03.

“It’s creepy to think that someone walked right into my room to take the computer,” Hirshon said.

Hirshon said she left her room at 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 21. When her suitemate returned at 1:30 p.m., the computers were gone, along with Hirshon’s pillowcase, which she thinks the thief used to carry the laptops.

Gasgarth, who is also a Crimson editor, said all of the doors were closed and locked when she returned to the room, but a fire exit door near the two bedrooms may have been propped open earlier in the day.

According to Trumpler, there was no sign of forced entry into the suite.

Although there have been 23 incidents of theft at Quincy House in the past two years, Catalano said this is not an alarming number.

“Is there a huge crime problem at Quincy? No. But obviously, we don’t want anything to be stolen,” he said.

Trumpler said she recommends students lock their computers to something immobile, save files on disks, and e-mail important documents to friends’ computers to ensure a back-up file.

Catalano said the thefts should remind students to take proper security precautions, including not leaving doors propped open.

He also said students should register their laptops and bicycles through HUPD’s Security Tracking of Office Property (STOP) program, so that if police recover stolen items, they can return the items to their owners. The program has allowed several students to recover valuables in the last few years.

Gasgarth said she and Hirshon did not register their laptops.

—Staff writer Jenifer L. Steinhardt can be reached at steinhar@fas.harvard.edu.