Boston College students shaken by man trying to get in their off-campus home
By Mary Saladna
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BOSTON (WCVB) — Video of a man snooping around a Boston home is putting the eight Boston College students who reside there on edge, along with the other BC students who live in that part of the city’s Brighton neighborhood.
In the very early hours of Monday morning, just minutes after midnight, footage from a Ring camera shows a man creeping up the back steps of the house where Olivia Gandolfo and her seven roommates live.
Gandolfo said she had just gotten into bed when she received a notification on her phone that someone was at the back door.
“I saw him coming up the back steps, and I was immediately shaking, filled with so much panic,” Gandolfo said.
The man can be seen peering through a window pane on the back door and jiggling the handle. Gandolfo then rushed to wake up her roommates and called 911.
“Then, from the downstairs unit, I heard three of my roommates screaming because he was looking in all the windows,” Gandolfo said.
Gandolfo and her roommates, all juniors at Boston College, think the same man was creeping around their back door at about 8 p.m. Thursday. The man recorded in the Ring video from Thursday appears to be wearing the same clothing and sneakers as the man who was recorded in Monday’s video.
“He would come up [the porch] and look in these windows and then try and come into this door,” said Charlotte Fentress, one of Gandolfo’s roommates.
With the help of their landlord and their parents, the BC students who live in the Brighton home have taken extra precautions from security bars on doors to window alarms to motion detector lights and more home surveillance cameras.
The stepped-up security did not seem to phase the man, however, as Thursday’s video shows him looking directly at the camera and then heading up the back steps anyway.
“We know that he knows we’re home. All of the cars are in the driveway. The lights are on. We’re walking around the house,” Gandolfo said. “It’s just, why is he trying so hard to get in?”
In a statement, the Boston College Police Department said it is working with the Boston Police Department to provide increased foot and car patrols in that area of Brighton after receiving reports of suspicious activity at off-campus student apartments.
“BCPD and BPD have seen the video, and BC Police and the Dean of Students have sent alerts and emails to warn students to be aware of these incidents,” the statement reads. “BCPD continually advises students to lock the doors to their residences, secure their windows and air conditioning units.”
Boston Police issued a community alert, warning residents about the attempted break-ins.
“We urge all residents to remain vigilant and take proactive measures to protect their property. Ensure that all doors and windows are securely locked at all times and consider installing additional security measures such as motion-sensor lights, alarm systems and cameras,” the alert read.
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