At 5:15 a.m. the day before spring semester classes began, Delta Tau Delta (DTD) President Scott Cohen knew that he and his brothers were not alone in their fraternity house on 98 Professor's Row. After moving back into the house the day before to find that an estimated $8,000 worth of property had been stolen over winter break, Cohen awoke to the sound of jiggling door knobs and footsteps.
Following quick action on the part of several DTD brothers, Michael Hayes, a local resident who lives within three blocks of DTD, was arrested and charged with breaking and entering the DTD fraternity and stealing private property. Both are felony offenses, according to Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) investigating officer Charles Lonero.
The theft during break gave Cohen more reason to become suspicious of the early morning noise on Jan. 16. He got out of bed to determine its source and, while exiting his room, heard the bathroom door slam shut and lock.
Cohen then went to the outside fire escape to peer into the locked bathroom's window.
"There was a guy dressed all in black leaning up against the door listening," he said.
At that point, Cohen ran into the room of two other brothers - seniors Jason Myerson and Jun Tazawa - to alert them of the prowler.
"There's a burglar in our house, call the police immediately!" Myerson recalled Cohen yelling after he burst into their room.
The groggy Myerson proceeded to call TUPD while Cohen ran back to the fire escape to make sure the intruder did not flee. He arrived to find the stranger already halfway through the open bathroom window, which leads to a stairwell. Cohen stepped back into the house and followed him into the bathroom, through the window, and then onto the stairwell.
Cohen, Myerson, and Tazawa, along with fellow brother senior Dave Kasdan, surrounded the would-be burglar on the staircase. With Cohen at the top of the steps and Kasdan at the bottom of the staircase, blocking an exit out, the brothers waited for the police to arrive and began to question the stranger in black.
"He walked down the staircase and tired to leave, but I blocked his way," Kasdan said. "I told him to sit on the stairs and wait for the police to arrive. I asked him who he was and if he had any ID I could see."
The stranger was fairly unresponsive to the brothers, but said he knew someone in another fraternity and was visiting someone in the DTD house, according to Myerson. He also said that the suspect seemed visibly intoxicated.
"He just sat down on our stairs and lit a cigarette," Myerson said.
A police officer rushed onto the scene moments later with a gun in hand and apprehended the suspect. A count of stolen property was added to the charge of breaking and entering after TUPD found the wallet of DTD brother Josh Flaherty on Hayes.
Police are not sure if Hayes is connected to the earlier break-in, which occurred sometime during winter recess. Fingerprint experts have been brought in to check for Hayes' prints in Cohen's room, to determine if there is a link between the two robberies. Cohen's entire desktop computer and printer, along with stereo and computer equipment that belonged to other brothers, were missing when four fraternity members returned to campus two days before the semester started.
"There is reasonable suspicion that a prior break may have been committed by him or an associate," Lonero said.
He said that whether the suspect's prints were found in Cohen's room would indicate if he was responsible for the original break-in.
Hayes has been arraigned and is awaiting a trial date. Because no warrant has been issued to search Hayes' property, though, DTD brothers fear that, even if he is proven to be responsible for the previous break-in, there will be little chance of recovering the stolen property.
"We figured by this point that if the man had even a few brain cells he would have discarded what he had," Myerson said.
Lonero said that the suspect most likely gained access through an open window by the balcony of the building. Open windows and doors at Greek houses have created a perennial security problem at the house in the past, despite efforts by the brothers to prevent theft.
"Every year, every time we go away for Christmas we lock this house up as best we can, and every time something is stolen," Myerson said.
DTD hires a professional to lock the doors and windows and seal up the house before all recesses, according to Cohen.
Greek houses, as well as other non-University houses, are at a much higher risk for burglary than other University buildings, Lonero said. These residences are responsible for their own security, and few have the alarm systems and high-security window coverings that every Tufts-owned building have.
Patrolling officers do look out for possible trouble at Greek houses on campus, and the crime prevention department widely advertises security suggestions and procedures, which has helped with theft issues.
"We have break-ins every year, but they have diminished greatly since new [prevention] regulations were instituted," Lonero said.
He added that exercising more caution in who fraternity members let into their house could also help reduce theft. Strangers, who are let in for parties, can easily examine the house for possible entrances and valuables.
