E.L. police say recent rental break-ins are related

A string of break-ins has left police searching and East Lansing renters worrying.

During the past four months, thieves have stolen TVs, video game systems, computers and purses from rental properties all around the city, East Lansing police Sgt. Scott Wriggelsworth said.

The thieves do not force their entry, and most of the robberies happen between midnight and 7 a.m. In many cases, the residents are sleeping at home when the items are stolen, Wriggelsworth said.

“It’s just like the stuff vanished in the middle of the night,” he said.

Police suspect the same people are involved in all these cases.

Amanda Esch, a communication junior, had her apartment at Cedar Greens, located on Michigan Avenue, broken into during the first month of the semester. A flat-screen TV, iPod, two cell phones and money were stolen.

Esch said one of her roommates locked their patio and front doors before going to sleep. When the four girls woke up, their items were missing.

“My roommate got up at 7:30 (a.m.), then came and woke me up at about 8, and told me the things were gone,” Esch said.

The thieves jumped on the balcony and forced open the patio door, then left with the electronics through the apartment’s front door, Esch said.

Esch and her roommates reported the incident to DTN Management, the company that manages Cedar Greens. The property managers put a bar across the girls’ window and sent a letter to residents, Esch said.

Apartments also have been robbed at The Landings at Chandler Crossings, located on Chandler Road; Cedar Village, on Waters Edge; Abbott Pointe, off Abbot Road near Saginaw Street; and Hull Apartments, near Hagadorn and Haslett roads.

Police could not specify how many incidents occurred at each complex because the cases are still under investigation.

The thieves check for unlocked first- and second-story patio doors and windows, and enter the open residences. Police believe multiple people are working together to carry out the robberies.

“A lot of these are something that one person couldn’t have done by themselves,” Wriggelsworth said.

DTN Management, which also manages properties such as Cedar Village and Abbott Pointe, is aware of the thefts and has been cooperating with the investigations, Wriggelsworth said.

Residents at Abbott Pointe received a letter alerting them to the break-ins and reminding residents to lock all doors and windows, property manager Bryan Maltby said.

DTN also patrols its properties on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and has security cameras around Cedar Village, said Colin Cronin, area director for DTN student properties.

There are a number of issues in apartment complexes every year as students move off campus for the first time, and Cedar Greens and Cedar Village have not had an unusual number of incidents this semester, he said.

“There seems to be kind of a learning curve,” Cronin said. “In the dorms, everyone is trying to make friends, but out in the town, there are people trying to take advantage of that. There’s usually a transitional period.”

The Landings at Chandler Crossings also has been a target of multiple robberies, and extra security measures have been put in place.

After 10 p.m. every day, a security guard checks in and validates residents at the complex’s gate, said Theresa Nakata, spokeswoman for Pierce Property Management, the company that manages the Chandler Crossings properties.

On Tuesday, three other apartments in Cedar Village were robbed. Those incidents are not suspected to be related to the other break-ins, Wriggelsworth said.

Jessica Howe, an advertising and public relations senior, said her door was kicked in, and her laptop computer, her roommate’s laptop computer, DVD player and PlayStation were stolen. Two other apartments in the same building also were robbed.

The three Cedar Village robberies happened at about 6 p.m., Howe said. Another girl in the same building was assaulted when she walked in on thieves in her apartment.

“The ones that happen at night are brazen, but the three that happened on (Tuesday) are even more brazen,” Wriggelsworth said.

If anyone sees something suspicious, they should call 911, Wriggelsworth said.

“Our hope would be to catch these guys in the act,” he said.

To contact the East Lansing Police Department with tips, call (517) 351-4220.