Robbers play while students are away, said police in the wake of a spate of burglaries at student residences in Cape Town.
|||Cape Town - Robbers play while students are away, said the police on Tuesday in the wake of a spate of burglaries at student residences over the weekend.
Five UCT medical students who live in Rondebosch had a rude awakening in the middle of the night.
A thief broke into their house and got into bed with one student, then covered her face with a pillow while he stole her laptop and cellphone.
Keren Dugmore, one of the victim’s digsmates, said: “She woke up when he walked in. He covered her eyes and told her not to look at him while he scratched around looking for things.”
The intruder went into all four of the students’ rooms, but two slept through the experience.
“He didn’t do anything physical to them,” Dugmore said.
“We hope he doesn’t come back for more.”
The other student was awake when the man broke in at 5am, because she was preparing to write an exam that morning. He put a pillow over her face too, and stole her valuables.
Police captain FC van Wyk said the Rondebosch precinct had 178 flat complexes. Most were occupied by students and elderly people.
“Break-ins at the apartments have been a challenge.”
Van Wyk said, however, that there was no evidence to suggest that students were being targeted, although “the reporting of burglaries increases when students return from holiday”, to find they have been burgled while they were away.
Laptops were the item of choice for burglars, because other electronic devices, such as iPads and smartphones, could be used to track them down.
Flats on upper floors were targeted because there tended to be laxer security than for ground floor flats.
Van Wyk said there was no evidence to suggest repeat offenders “specialised” in digs break-ins, but there was a case of a criminal who frequented campus pretending to be a student.
“He would then walk into the residence and steal from rooms that were left open,” Van Wyk said.
He advised students and other residents going on holiday to make sure outside lights were switched on and off at regular intervals, and to fit locks on sliding windows to thwart thieves who could lift them off their tracks.
chelsea.geach@inl.co.za
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