Two female Syracuse University employees were the victims of burglary, robbery and larceny in Sims Hall Thursday morning, said Department of Public Safety Chief Tony Callisto.

At approximately 10:25 a.m., one employee found that her purse had been stolen from her second floor office in Sims Hall. As she ran out the door, she saw a man walking from her building toward the Quad, holding her purse under his arm, Callisto said. She ran after him, yelling for someone to stop him.

A male SU student tackled the suspect near the Physics Building, and two employees from the Physical Plant helped hold him down until DPS officers arrived a minute later, Callisto said. He declined to provide the names of the SU student.

DPS officers Jeff Mertell and Jessica Hildreth arrested Jamere Smith, 28. Smith is not an SU student, but was on campus as a paid intern for an Onondaga County work program, Callisto said.

The officers found Smith with a New York state driver’s license and credit card belonging to another SU professor. The professor checked her office in Sims Hall, and found that her purse had been stolen as well. It was later recovered in the fourth floor bathroom of Sims Hall.

Smith was charged with burglary in the third degree, robbery in the third degree and two counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree. He was booked into the Justice Center jail in Syracuse, Callisto said.

This is the third incident of purse snatching on campus this semester, the first on Jan. 16 and the second on Feb. 1. Callisto said it’s unusual to have this many purse snatchings in such a short time period.

‘We’re going to look into this to see if there’s any connection,’ he said. ‘Hopefully this arrest will stop that problem.’

He recommended that students keep possessions in lockers or locked rooms, and that they report any suspicious activity to DPS.

shmelike@syr.edu

Published on February 5, 2009 at 12:00 pm