On Monday night, Department of Public Safety and Syracuse Police Department officers questioned a man representing a utilities company, due to a recent series of burglaries involving people impersonating utility workers.

The man was going door-to-door for Columbia Utilities in areas surrounding campus, and was questioned by police on the corner of Euclid and Ostrom avenues.

Police let the man go after determining he wasn’t involved in any of the burglaries, said Ryan Beauford, a DPS commander. He added that no arrests have been made for any of the reported burglaries.

Connie, a representative from the Columbia Utilities company who declined to provide her full name, said the company engages in door-to-door solicitations to attract customers to its third-party energy service.

Since the start of the fall semester, DPS has received three to four reported incidents of this style of burglary with students living in off-campus housing, Beauford said.

On Sept. 9, a burglar entered a Remington Garden Apartments resident’s home by posing as a utilities worker, according to a DPS public safety release. While claiming to check the building’s utilities, the person stole the resident’s iPad and cash from different rooms, the notice said.

Beauford said students should be wary of unscheduled visits from utility companies, and to always check for an ID card and a corresponding uniform.

“If you live off campus and you have not had a pre-arranged appointment, then you probably need to check with your landlord before you let somebody in your house,” he said. “This happens all over, where you have someone pretend to be a handy-man, so these sorts of scams are not just specific to Syracuse University, on or off campus.”

Published on September 18, 2013 at 1:29 am

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