BY RACHEL SCOTT

In print | January 27, 2005

Public Safety recently obtained surveillance photos from the Springfield Target, taken of individuals using credit cards stolen from a Swarthmore student, according to Director of Public Safety Owen Redgrave.

On Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004, around 3:00 p.m., a student’s credit cards were taken from his backpack while it was left unattended in Sharples. Before he could cancel the cards, purchases were made along Baltimore Pike at Target, Kohl’s, the Springfield Mall and a Mobil station in Morton, Redgrave said. The purchases at Target were caught on the security camera.

The individuals in the photo have not yet been identified, and Redgrave said he hopes the college community may be able to help with their identification. “We can’t say that the people in the photos are responsible for other thefts, but they could be. For that reason, we’d like the community to be aware,” he said.

Although credit cards thefts happen periodically on campus, Redgrave said it is rare to have a situation such as this, where there is actually potential to apprehend the perpetrators. One reason is that, even if the suspects are caught on a security camera, the photos are rarely of high enough quality to be helpful. According to Lieutenant Herb Barron of Public Safety, the photos taken at Target were an exception. “Often they use the same film over and over, and after so many days it’s grainy and not of very much use to the investigators. But these photos were outstanding,” he said.

Public Safety also has trouble investigating credit card thefts because students often do not continue working with Public Safety after initially reporting the theft. “Most people don’t incur financial loss from credit cards, so many of them don’t follow up with us,” Redgrave said.

According to Redgrave, several other credit card thefts have happened recently. “We certainly haven’t had a crime spree, but number of thefts this year has been a little higher than average,” he said.

A theft occurred in the men’s bathroom in the basement of Lang Performing Arts Center between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12, the same day as the theft from Sharples. It is not clear whether the two incidents are related.

Additionally, Melissa Phruksachart ’07 and another sophomore who asked not to be named had credit cards stolen from their bags on Monday, Jan. 17. “We had our stuff in McCabe on the side where the round tables are. We got up to use the computers and were gone for 15 minutes, and when we got back [the other student] noticed some of her stuff was missing,” she said.

Phruksachart said she was surprised the theft happened because there were a number of people around at the time. “It just makes me really paranoid,” she said.

In order to prevent theft, Redgrave advised students to keep their belongings with them. “Every theft we’ve had this year was unattended property,” he said. He also recommended keeping a list of credit card numbers and company phone numbers so the cards can be canceled immediately if stolen. He stressed the importance of immediately notifying public safety, as well. “To know where crime on campus is happening allows us to do our job more effectively,” he said.

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