GEORGIA COMPUTER STOLEN FROM KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITYPolice recover stolen laptop - KSU Sentinel - NewsPolice recover stolen laptop
Student honors officer for recovered property
By Olivia Noland, Sr. Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Article Tools: Page 1 of 1

Media Credit: Payton Deas | The Sentinel
Hank Wu, junior, Math, presents a plaque of appreciation to the KSU police department.

A student was reunited with his laptop, with the help of KSU police, after a three week search ended at a Douglasville pawn shop.

Hank Wu, junior, Math was studying in the Student Organization Office on the third floor of the Student Center on Dec. 10, 2004. He went to the front desk to make a phone call and within five minutes, his laptop was gone.

He submitted a claim to the KSU Police Station around 9 a.m., and campus police arrived at the scene minutes later. Wu's information was recorded and he was told to wait to hear from an officer. They would contact him if they had any leads.

Several weeks passed before Wu knew anything about the search for his laptop. He received a phone call from Sergeant Edward Stephens, primary investigator at KSU, during the first week of the new year. Stephens delivered the good news.

"With the help of the Marietta and Douglasville Police Departments, we were able to locate the stolen laptop at a Douglasville pawn shop," Stephens said. "After reviewing Mr. Wu's information, we thought the laptop could be his."

Wu provided the serial number and original purchase order information of the laptop in order to expedite the identification. He remembers feeling very doubtful about it being his.

"Everyone knows that once an electronic device like a laptop is stolen, it isn't likely that it will be found, and if it is, there is a possibility of extensive damage to the inner and outer components," Wu said. "Until I actually touched it, I wasn't confident the laptop was mine."

Stephens received the laptop from officials in Douglasville on Jan. 19, and that same day he returned it to Wu.

"I was relatively positive that it was his," Stephens said.

Wu was astounded when he met with Stephens. The laptop was Wu's. After reviewing his files and information, he found that most of his documents were preserved.

"It was in good shape and only a few icons were deleted," Wu said.

Charges were pressed against the individual that sold the laptop to the pawn shop.

"The action that Sergeant Stephens and the KSU Police Department took was phenomenal," Wu said. "They did a fantastic job."

To show his appreciation, Wu prepared a plaque to present to the department. The Chinese inscription on the plaque reads: "To KSU Police Office - Appreciation for your perseverance, intelligent investigation service to protect the KSU community - Hank Wu."

The search for Wu's laptop uncovered a much larger situation at KSU.

While investigating Wu's case, Sergeant Stephens was contacted by Detective Henson of the Marietta Police Department. Henson was suspicious of some computers and equipment found at a Marietta pawn shop and thought they belonged to KSU.

"Once I received the phone call, we started to put a bigger case together," Stephens said. "I gathered the information on previous thefts around campus within the past year."

As the case unfolded, nearly $25,000 in computers and equipment was recovered from pawn shops throughout Cobb County and surrounding areas. Stephens finalized the remaining components of the case during the first week in February.

He stressed the importance of students keeping the serial numbers and purchase order information to their electronic equipment.

"It speeds up the process of locating it if we have all the necessary information," Stephens said.

Stephens was very pleased to have helped in recovering these stolen items.

"We could not have had such success without the help from the Marietta and Douglasville Police Departments," he said.