Quincy Burglary Suspect Arrested

The Harvard University Police Department has apprehended a suspect in the case of the Sept. 27 burglary at Quincy House, according to an e-mail sent by department spokesman Steven G. Catalano to University administrators yesterday.

The e-mail, which was sent to students over several House lists, also contained information about another incident in which a motor vehicle was stolen from a resident in Cabot House yesterday.

After receiving information from the Cambridge Police Department, HUPD officers made the arrest in Central Square yesterday at 4:45 p.m.

The suspect will be arraigned at the Cambridge District Court today for the Quincy House break-in as well as several other incidents at neighboring universities.

The thief allegedly broke into Quincy House and stole a white Apple MacBook laptop computer valued at $1,500, according to the HUPD police log.

The Crimson reported Sept. 28 that during the burglary residents of the room awoke. One of them, Olivia A. Benowitz ’09, said she found a man rummaging through her purse. She said the thief told her he was looking for a quarter so that he could call the American Automobile Association, before fleeing the scene.

In the recent Cabot House burglary, residents reported to HUPD officers that an individual had stolen three laptop computers, a key to a motor vehicle and some money sometime during the night. The motor vehicle had been parked on Shepard St. and was recovered elsewhere in Cambridge.

Detectives were able to collect physical evidence from the scene and the vehicle to aid in the ongoing investigation, according to Catalano’s e-mail.

The burglary follows a slew of crimes to hit campus in the last month. Last week, an individual broke into the 20 DeWolfe Street building through a window and stole two laptops and two wallets.

In addition, at least five similar incidents—thefts of laptops and other electronics from dorm rooms—have been reported at MIT since August, according to the Tech, MIT’s student newspaper.

—Staff writer Jamison A. Hill can be reached at jahill@fas.harvard.edu.