Rash of Burglaries at MIT Kenmore Area Fraternities Puts BU on Alert
BU community, students urged to lock doors, not admit strangers to buildings
MIT fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa, at 487 Comm Ave, is one of several in the Kenmore area burglarized in the last week. The BUPD urges the BU community to lock doors and windows and not to admit strangers into buildings. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi
The Boston University Police Department is urging BU students and the University community to be vigilant following a rash of burglaries over the past week at MIT fraternity houses in the Kenmore Square area, near BU’s East Campus. At least seven burglaries at six locations have been reported from July 6 to 10, according to the BUPD and MIT Police.
Thieves walked into several fraternity houses on Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue and stole bikes, laptops, wallets, a PlayStation, and other electronics from residents’ rooms. The fraternity houses frequently sublet rooms during the summer months, and security can be lax.
After being alerted to the thefts by MIT police, Kelly Nee, BUPD police chief, sent a campus-wide email on Wednesday advising the BU community to make sure they lock doors and windows and never to let unaccompanied strangers into campus buildings or residences.
The map above shows the locations and dates of burglaries that have occurred at MIT fraternities near the BU campus over the past week.
There are two unidentified suspects at this time, and police are working to identify them. Security cameras recorded one man entering the MIT Phi Kappa Theta fraternity at 229 Commonwealth Avenue on July 7. He reportedly walked through the fraternity dining room and spent about 30 minutes in the house before leaving through the back door. Nothing was reported missing in that case. Security cameras also captured images of two men entering MIT’s Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at 487 Comm Ave on July 9.
Nee stresses that any suspicious activity should be reported to BU Police at 617-353-2121.
Megan Woolhouse can be reached at megwj@bu.edu.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.