To catch a thief
Friday was a strange day. I was working in the lab, sitting at my desk, which is separated from the lab-portion of the lab by 8-ft bookcases. All the other kids who are normally around were doing lab orientation and machine-shop safety and were out in the hall somewhere. A student came in and asked me whether Pranav (another grad student working in the lab) was around. Pranav wasn't, so I told him he could wait a few minutes by Pranav's desk (i.e. where I could see him) or out in the hall. He said he'd just stop by later and left. I checked the clock to see what time it was so I could tell Pranav he missed the guy. I asked his name but promptly forgot. I looked at him long enough to be able to describe him accurately to Pranav.
About thirty seconds later, I got a weird feeling and headed out to the lab portion to check things out. The student had left, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I went back to work, this time without my headphones.
Pranav came back at 2:00 and was really upset that he'd missed the guy. About fifteen minutes later, Sam, one of the undergrads who does a ton of work on robots, came back. His laptop was missing. The peripherals (minus the charger) were still sitting on the desk. After talking to people in the lab to see if it had just been moved, etc., he called the police. This is how I came to discover that something was stolen right in front of me (albeit beyond a wall of bookshelves so I couldn't see). We asked everyone who works in the hall and who was in the machine shop if they'd seen anyone unusual. The guy looking for Pranav was noticed by just about everyone.
The police arrived 15-20 minutes later, and it's now close to 3:00. Pranav has been trying to call this guy. It turns out they had met at the ISSO, and Pranav had been keeping some medicine for the guy while the guy traveled. Pranav didn't know him well, and he feels about as bad as I do. We tell the police everything we know--I gave a really complete description (hadn't been long), including a description of the laptop bag he was carrying. The policeman says he's going to look up the student and go question him, having only one suspect. He doesn't take fingerprints of the peripherals. I'm disappointed about that. The policeman heads out around 3:30.
At 4:00, Sam gets a phone call. It's the policeman. He has Sam's laptop. He stopped the suspect, carrying Sam's laptop, as the suspect left his dorm. He hadn't changed his clothes. My description was enough that the policeman readily identified him on sight. Sam got his laptop back at 4:30 and decided not to press charges, but to fully support the on-campus handling of the matter (through the JA). He didn't want to lose his laptop to evidence.
So that's the story of how a friend's laptop was stolen while I was in the room with it, and then how I managed to get it back for him (though Pranav's willingness to give the police all the contact information he had was the main help). Some files had been deleted, but Sam didn't suffer any major losses. Now we are all being a bit more careful with our possessions and with lab security when everyone is working at the desks.
In other news, Jud and I went furniture shopping this weekend and came away with a table and chairs (image from the Ashley Furniture website).
We aren't big fans of the upholstery, but we're told it's easy to change, and that there's a JoAnn's fabric shop nearby. We got our set during what turned out to be a huge 50%-off sale, so it only cost us $550, including tax and delivery. Our table and chairs will be delivered in two weeks or so... In the meantime, we are preparing the room. We cleaned and primed the walls last night. Killz--nice primer, but you might as well be painting with Elmer's glue.
About thirty seconds later, I got a weird feeling and headed out to the lab portion to check things out. The student had left, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I went back to work, this time without my headphones.
Pranav came back at 2:00 and was really upset that he'd missed the guy. About fifteen minutes later, Sam, one of the undergrads who does a ton of work on robots, came back. His laptop was missing. The peripherals (minus the charger) were still sitting on the desk. After talking to people in the lab to see if it had just been moved, etc., he called the police. This is how I came to discover that something was stolen right in front of me (albeit beyond a wall of bookshelves so I couldn't see). We asked everyone who works in the hall and who was in the machine shop if they'd seen anyone unusual. The guy looking for Pranav was noticed by just about everyone.
The police arrived 15-20 minutes later, and it's now close to 3:00. Pranav has been trying to call this guy. It turns out they had met at the ISSO, and Pranav had been keeping some medicine for the guy while the guy traveled. Pranav didn't know him well, and he feels about as bad as I do. We tell the police everything we know--I gave a really complete description (hadn't been long), including a description of the laptop bag he was carrying. The policeman says he's going to look up the student and go question him, having only one suspect. He doesn't take fingerprints of the peripherals. I'm disappointed about that. The policeman heads out around 3:30.
At 4:00, Sam gets a phone call. It's the policeman. He has Sam's laptop. He stopped the suspect, carrying Sam's laptop, as the suspect left his dorm. He hadn't changed his clothes. My description was enough that the policeman readily identified him on sight. Sam got his laptop back at 4:30 and decided not to press charges, but to fully support the on-campus handling of the matter (through the JA). He didn't want to lose his laptop to evidence.
So that's the story of how a friend's laptop was stolen while I was in the room with it, and then how I managed to get it back for him (though Pranav's willingness to give the police all the contact information he had was the main help). Some files had been deleted, but Sam didn't suffer any major losses. Now we are all being a bit more careful with our possessions and with lab security when everyone is working at the desks.
In other news, Jud and I went furniture shopping this weekend and came away with a table and chairs (image from the Ashley Furniture website).
We aren't big fans of the upholstery, but we're told it's easy to change, and that there's a JoAnn's fabric shop nearby. We got our set during what turned out to be a huge 50%-off sale, so it only cost us $550, including tax and delivery. Our table and chairs will be delivered in two weeks or so... In the meantime, we are preparing the room. We cleaned and primed the walls last night. Killz--nice primer, but you might as well be painting with Elmer's glue.
posted by megan at
12:38 PM
3 Comments:
Way to go on the description!! I am surprised and impressed. I love the furniture. Is the table expandable? did you get 4 chairs?
By
Anonymous, at 5:24 PM
Well, you know, if he had put on a hat and changed clothes, I probably wouldn't have recognized him. But I try.
The table isn't expandable, but it seats six. We bought four chairs. Maybe we should have bought six, but then we'd have two chairs that are usually in the way.
By
megan, at 5:57 PM
That's a really cool story. So this guy stole the laptop and immediately deleted some files from it..? I mean I guess he was intending to use the laptop for himself, but the fact that he actually deleted files that your friend noticed missing, in the small time that he had it, is weird.
By
Anonymous, at 5:48 PM
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