CONNECTICUT COMPUTER LCD MONITORS AND COMPUTERS TARGETED BY THIEVES AT UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUTNewsday.com - AP Regional

Custodians thwart LCD screen theft


November 25, 2004, 4:12 PM EST

STORRS, Conn. -- Two custodians interrupted the theft of LCD screens from a University of Connecticut campus Wednesday, police said.

Authorities said the burglars were lowering expensive LCD screens with straps from the atrium and stacking them with other equipment by exits at the Neag School of Education's Gentry Building.

The burglars apparently knew students were on Thanksgiving break, police said, but didn't think about the cleaning crew. The crew, which arrived around 4 a.m., discovered the burglars communicating through wireless devices, authorities said.

A custodian who came face-to-face with one of the thieves ran and called police.

Richard Schwab, dean of the school of education, said the burglars appeared to know the building well.

"They knew what they were doing," Schwab said. "They knew what locks to break. They knew their way around the system. This wasn't just some ham-and-egger off the street."

Schwab said the burglars also moved about a dozen computers and large monitors, as well as up to 40 laptop computers.
No arrests have been made.

Schwab said he is working to improve the security in the Gentry Building, which was recently expanded with a $12 million addition paid for through the UConn 2000 rebuilding program as well as private donors.

"Those two cleaning folks saved all of us a lot of money and a lot of educational time," Schwab said.


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