[PRL] Re: laptop stolen from Egan 222

[Greg Pettyjohn]

OK, it's obvious to me that at least one of my backpacks was stolen 
*out of egan 222* from under my desk. I now suspect that they were both 
stolen and the first one would have been stolen during the day.

I first noticed my red back pack was gone on thursday night (Nov 13th) 
after getting dinner at Uno.  At that time, since it disappeared during 
the day, I made the assumption that I must have taken it out of the 
office and left it somewhere, this assumption made me think I left it 
at the library. Now, I'm convinced that it must have been taken from 
under my desk. It would have disappeared sometime after 1:00 p.m. I 
first knew for sure it was missing in the evening say between 8:00 and 
9:00. I normally keep my backpack under my desk right next to my chair, 
so I have always had my doubts that I left it at the library.

The second bag, was a grayish rectangular bag with a single strap. It 
disappeared from under my desk last week, probably tuesday night (Nov. 
18th).

When I came in last night (Sat. Nov. 22nd), there were two black men 
here. I recall they had on hats and coats and were wandering around 
near Jamie's desk. They still had their coats on, so obviously they 
hadn't been here long.  I asked one of them "can I help you", he asked 
me about someone named "David Smith". I responded that there was no 
"David Smith" here. They both left. Dammit, they both walked right past 
me, but I can't remember what they looked like, other than at least one 
of them had a hat on.

I recall that I had to use my key to get enter through the door by 
Joe's office. After the two men left, I surveyed the area and 
discovered that Theo and Richard were here. I asked Richard whether he 
was aware that the two men had been here. He said no, and then we both 
observed that the other door was locked. I checked the door and 
confirmed that it was indeed locked and was not ajar.

These two strangers were able to gain entrance, even though both doors 
were locked, so either they got in the same way that Jeff did, or they 
had a key.

Let me reiterate, these people are able to gain entrance without a key. 
When they leave, they're smart enough to leave the door unlocked when 
they leave so that we will mistakenly blame it on our own negligence 
rather than suspect that they got in without having a key.

Jeff Palm was able to get in without a key. He showed me how he did it 
and it's so simple that it is now clear to me that the locks on the 
door are a total joke.

1. Don't stay late at night if you are the only one here.
2. You can lock the doors if you want, but it doesn't matter. If you 
want, I will show you how to get in without a key. It's quick and easy.
3. When you log into your computer, check the RAM. I know first hand of 
three different instances in which memory was stolen out of computers 
(at BSQUARE, Microsoft, and UW).
4. Don't leave valuables in the lab.

We should find a solution to the lock problem before thanksgiving, 
otherwise we could potentially loose a lot of equipment.


> Lo, on Sunday, November 23, Jamie L. Raymond did write:
>
>> If you remember anything that might help the police, please let me
>> know. They're worried about a serial thief who may come back or try
>> other offices in Egan. Last week someone in another Egan office
>> reported crow-bar marks on their door.
>
> Two things that may be relevant:
>
> 1) Theo & I were in Egan yesterday afternoon; since we were the only
>    folks there, we kept both doors locked and firmly closed.  Greg got
>    in a bit later to discover two men wandering through the lab
>    inquiring after a non-existent person.  Greg could provide you more
>    details there.
>
>    (Greg & I left approximately together, locking the doors behind us;
>    Theo was still there at that point.)
>
> 2) I've noticed a couple of times over the last few weeks that the
>    *exterior* door to Egan doesn't close when locked.  This is the door
>    on the end of the building closest to the library, just across from
>    the door into Snell Engineering.  This definitely needs to be
>    reported to maintenance.
>
> Richard
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