While residents of houses along the greater Rugby Road area celebrated the holidays out of town with families and friends, criminals were busy breaking into their Charlottesville homes, stealing belongings and damaging cars left on the streets.
Charlottesville Police Detective Sgt. Marc Brake said there were about 13 cases of breaking and entering between Dec. 15 and Jan. 13 in the Rugby Road area. Brake said this trend of increased crime during Winter Break is something the police expect every year.
“Usually a lot of the folks that break in in the area know student schedules,” Brake said. “We’ve been doing the extra patrols up there for years. We try to put as [many] resources as we can up there. It always helps.”
Patrolling police officers made the first reports of suspicious activity in the area, as many residents were out of town and unable to report damage themselves.
Second-year Architecture student Arley Arrington, however, was the first to report the damage to her 14th Street home, which she shares with 11 others. The house was broken into and burglarized Dec. 21, she said, adding that purses, a laptop, a camera, a printer, a vacuum and a pedicure set were among the things missing the next day. Arrington said she and her housemates believe that the intruders popped out a window and came in through the front door at night when no one was home.
“It’s kind of scary to think about someone breaking into our house,” Arrington said. “It was the one night that no one was here.”
Brake said whether or not lights are on in a house makes a difference to thieves when they choose a house to burglarize. He noted that visible valuables and poorly secured residences are easy targets.
“If they have the opportunity [to break in or steal], a lot of them are going to try to,” he said.
Although the number of these types of crimes spikes each Winter Break, “we have made a significant dip in reference to years past,” Brake said. “Hopefully we continue that success.”
Charlottesville Police Sgt. Richard Hudson said there were no more than 10 incidents of vandalism to vehicles in the greater Rugby Road area. He said he believes those acts were random and unmotivated.
“In my opinion it’s just random acts of ignorance,” Hudson said. “People aren’t reporting anything missing [from their vehicles]. It’s certainly a nuisance and annoyance to owners,” he added, noting window replacement costs.
Michael Citro, assistant dean of Fraternity and Sorority Life, wrote in an e-mail to students involved in Greek life, many of whom live within the affected areas, that there will be an increased police presence during the first couple weeks of January as law enforcement officials are still “actively looking into the recent issues.” The e-mail also encouraged students to report any damages.
“It’s unfortunate that something like this would happen over break,” Citro said. “And it’s important that our students be aware of safety and security measures regardless of the time of year.”
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