3 Burglaries To Unlocked Rutgers Labs And Offices In Past 2 Weeks

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — There were three break-ins to offices and laboratories on the Rutgers campus in the past two weeks, but a Rutgers spokeswoman said the burglaries don't appear to be related, and are likely crimes of opportunity due to offices being left unlocked.

The most recent burglary occurred Monday, Dec. 22 at an office in the McLaren Center for Ceramic Research, on Taylor Road in Piscataway.

Sometime between 5 and 8:30 p.m. someone entered an unlocked office in the building, and took cash. There were no signs of forced entry.

Then, sometime between Dec. 19 and Dec. 22, someone broke into McLean Research Laboratories on Jones Avenue on the Cook campus, in New Brunswick. People entered through an unlocked, unsecured access point and stole items of value, plus left behind minor vandalism.

And the first break-in occurred Dec. 17 at a building used by Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Medical School, at 125 Paterson Street in New Brunswick. Sometime between 11:30 a.m. Dec. 17 and 10 a.m. Dec. 18, someone entered an unlocked office and stole scarves.

"These incidents are likely unrelated," said Rutgers spokeswoman Megan Schumann. "Each was perpetrated as a result of unsecured entry points and appear to be crimes of opportunity."