Students in Towers residence halls finish their laundry after waiting near the laundry room as they do their laundry in order to prevent their clothes from being stolen. Many students have reported articles of clothing missing throughout all three laundry rooms. residence halls finish their laundry after waiting near the laundry room as they do their laundry in order to prevent their clothes from being stolen. Photo by Erin Knapp / The Daily Campus
Reports of stolen laundry at Webster Hall in the Towers complex at the University of Connecticut prompted two separate investigations by UConn Police (UCPD) since August, UCPD Deputy Chief of Police Andrew Fournier said.
“Since August, we’ve had two complaints of laundry being stolen from the laundry room located in Webster Hall,” Fournier said. “Both cases are suspended due to a lack of investigative leads.”
In an email to students living in Towers, Towers staff reminded students to stay with their laundry while doing the chore.
“When doing your laundry, we encourage you all to set a timer to keep track of your laundry when it’s in the washer or the dryer,” the email said. “You can also sit in the lounge if you would like to remain close by.”
The staff told students in the email to talk to an RA, hall director or UCPD when reporting missing laundry.
Fournier said UCPD will take appropriate action if the problem persists.
“If there were an increase in reports of laundry theft, we would increase patrols in the specific area,” Fournier said. “As with any reported crime, we take investigative steps to identify those responsible if at all possible.”
Seventh-semester allied health major Erin Sweeney said she has had her laundry stolen before.
“I had a ton of clothes stolen last year from [the] Mansfield Apartments laundry room,” Sweeney said. “[It] had, like, all my favorite clothes in it and it was literally the entire load. I posted about it on Buy and Sell and ask[ed] my teammates to look out for people wearing my rugby clothes that they knew were not on the team.”
Fournier said it isn’t common, but these types of reports do come in.
“These types of thefts are fairly sporadic, but we do receive reports,” Fournier said.
Luke Hajdasz is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at luke.hajdasz@uconn.edu.