A professional thief or group of professional thieves stole several items from Honnold-Mudd Library over summer break. Items reported missing included a wallet and two laptops. All of the items had been left unattended.

“We believe these not to be random crimes of opportunity; rather, these acts are committed by career criminals who are now targeting us on a consistent basis,” wrote Director of Campus Safety for the Claremont University Consortium Shahram Ariane in an e-mail sent out to students on Sept. 9. “Campus Safety, in conjunction with the Claremont Police Department, has taken steps to counter this.”

According to Ariane, the similar circumstances under which the crimes took place indicates that they were likely the work of just one person or a single group. Crimes of this type are “not very common” at the 5Cs, he said, “but when you see three instances happening in a short span of time, you have to be alarmed.”

In addition to being committed within a few days of one another, the thefts also all involved items left unattended at the library.

The crimes occurred on Thursday, Aug. 5 at 5 p.m., Monday, Aug. 9 at 2:45 p.m., and Wednesday, Aug. 11 between 2:30 and 3:45 p.m. There have been no similar incidents in Honnold-Mudd Library since Aug. 11.

“People are taking more care” since the incidents occurred, Ariane said.

None of the items have been recovered so far, and Campus Safety does not have a description of the thief or thieves.

Claremont students were notified of the crimes after returning to campus, in an email broadcast dated Sept. 9. The report emphasized the importance of reporting suspicious behavior to Campus Safety immediately.

Ariane urged students to take precautions to reduce the likelihood of their belongings being stolen, noting that the wallet, which was stolen from inside a purse, had been left unattended by the owner for over an hour. Ideally, students should stay with their belongings at all times when in a public space such as Honnold-Mudd. If students do not wish to go through the trouble of powering down their laptop and carrying it around, they can use a laptop lock to attach it to a heavier, bulkier object. Although using a laptop lock does not guarantee that a computer will not be stolen, a lock can slow thieves down or make them more conspicuous, Ariane said.

Students should also write down the serial numbers of their laptops, chargers, and other expensive equipment on a piece of paper, he added, and keep it somewhere safe so that if their belongings are stolen, they will be able to report the serial numbers to police.