Attempted abductions, burglaries and a peeping tom: October crime spree

Five incidents have been reported to the police this semester, all happening in late October.

Most recently there were two attempted abductions Halloween weekend: Friday around 2 am on Wertland St., and Saturday at 8:05 pm on West Water St. according to statements sent out by the Charlottesville Police. The Saturday incident was allegedly done by a man in a black hoodie with red sleeves, which is also the description for the man seen in the peeping tom incident.

It's especially disconcerting that Wertland St. is almost always flooded with students, especially late night on weekends when students are leaving bars. The Water Street incident, while farther from grounds, is still unsettling since students frequent the area at that time when going to the downtown mall for dinner.

The peeping tom incident on the 18th was the first in which the suspect was wearing that same hoodie.

He had been caught looking in a girls' shower and could have possibly been videotaping. When the news was released at around 12:55 pm, the first thing that came to everyone’s mind was how easy it would have been for someone to do something like that — it is customary for students to tape the lock on bathroom doors since they usually require a combination to get in. It seems unbelievable someone could get away with this right in the middle of grounds. We reached out to the Charlottesville police and had no response from them.

This string of October incidents started on the 16th when a burglary at University Gardens apartments off Emmet Street was reported to have happened around 2:40-2:45 am when a student woke up to find a man in her room. I think it's safe to say that's many students' worst nightmare.

Another burglary happened four days later when at the Copeley Hills apartments, someone broke in and stole the car of a student between 4:40-5:30 am. The car was later found at a construction site off Ivy Rd.

None of these incidents have been reportedly solved.

We interviewed First Year Rec Reid, who lives in the Echols dorm on McCormick Rd., about the peeping tom:

Q: Have you seen behavior like this around your dorm/other dorms that would have prompted you to not be as shocked when hearing the news that this had occurred?

A: No, this is the first I have seen an incident like this.

Q: How has the community in your dorm changed since the incident?

A: While this is definitely a problem, I do not believe anyone on my floor could have been a part of it

Q: Do you think the perpetrator was someone living in the dorm?

A: I think that more than likely it was a student but I am not really sure who would do something like that.

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