Two apartments in Laker Village at Grand Valley State University were broken into while the residents
were home asleep upstairs early on the morning of Sept. 13. Laptops, purses, TVs, credit cards, cash
and other personal belongings were taken from the apartment, but the residents were not harmed.

“At this time, we believe there is more than one suspect involved,” said Capt. Brandon DeHaan,
assistant director of the Department of Public Safety. “However, I will not speculate on the number of
suspects at this time.”

The suspects entered the apartments through the back screen doors, neither of which were secured.

“The two reported instances are burglaries,” DeHaan said. “However, as residents of the apartments
were home at the time, the incidents became home invasions.”

DeHaan couldn’t give too many details since the investigation is still ongoing, but he did say limited
items were recovered and the Grand Valley Police Department is following up on some leads. GVPD
has reason to believe the suspects fled to the Detroit area, where they tried using the stolen credit
cards and pawning a few items.

Ashley Schulte, living center director at Laker Village, sent out an email to all residents with some
general safety tips:

•Keep your apartment doors locked at all times and remind all roommates to keep their keys on them
at all times. Lock your screen door and use the security bar. If your security bar is not functional or
needs repair, call 616-331-3000 to submit a work order.

•Inventory your personal belongings of value. Use serial numbers of your computer, TV, cell phone,
etc; copy your credit card information so you can quickly report it missing and keep that document in
a safe location.

•If you’re using Apple products, use iCloud to register your products. Also, use “Find My iPhone, iPad,
iMac, etc.” by enabling the app on your products and making sure Location Services are turned on.

DeHaan said the GVPD is still attempting to develop suspects and is encouraging the community to
step up with any information.

“We’re asking residents to be responsible for the community,” he said and reminded everyone on
campus to be alert, aware and responsible for themselves and for others around them. He also said
that home invasion is fairly rare on campus, but to contact GVPD right away if a break-in is suspected.

“While this is a very safe campus, bad things can happen, even here at Grand Valley,” DeHaan said.

According to the Allendale Campus Police Beat on GVPD’s website, this is the first breaking and
entering crime of this semester.

However, an incident, which was described as “burglary” and “disorderly conduct,” also occurred in
Laker Village on April 20. The suspect, who was a student, was charged with breaking and entering
and was lodged in the Ottawa County Jail.

According to the most recent data in GVSU’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report for 2012, there
were five reported burglaries in on-campus residence halls for 2011. That same year, there were 38
instances of larceny-theft that also occurred in residence halls. The 2013 report, which will document
records for the 2012 calendar year, is expected to be posted at the end of this month.

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