A student’s off-campus apartment was burglarized Monday after he awoke to an unknown man in his bedroom, said Department of Public Safety Chief Tony Callisto.

When the student confronted the man about why he was there, he took out a small knife and fled with some of the student’s personal items, Callisto said.

The burglary occurred at the student’s apartment on the 1000 block of Madison Street after the student awoke to the suspect at 10:45 a.m., he said.

This is the second instance DPS reported this semester in which a student’s apartment was entered while he or she was still home and was shown a knife.

Callisto said DPS suspects the man entered the apartment through an unlocked exterior door. The student was not injured.

There are no updates on the suspect, and a detective from Syracuse police will follow up on the case, said Syracuse Police Department Sgt. Gary Bulinski.

‘We haven’t IDed anybody at this point in time,’ he said.

The suspect was described as a 5-foot-5, 150-pound male in his late teens to early 20s, Callisto said. He was last seen in jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt.

Burglars look for the simplest way to enter homes in many cases, he said. They’ll check various doors and then walk in through the first one that’s open and start stealing, Callisto said.

‘They’re always looking for the easy way,’ he said.

Callisto said he does not want to assign blame to the victim in this case, but he added it was important to make sure exterior doors and windows are locked.

mcboren@syr.edu

 

Published on September 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm