By Devyn Briones
Arts & Entertainment Editor
The Signal and Campus Police work together on a weekly basis to inform the campus community about crime on and around campus. All records given to The Signal are public records and do not contain personal information. Some information provided may be triggering for some students.
March 4: Burnt plastic
At approximately 4:58 p.m., a fire alarm went off at Travers and Wolfe Halls. The activated alarm was coming from a resident’s room in Wolfe Hall. There were no smells of smoke or gas, but a burnt plastic scent. The cause of activation was due to the burnt plastic smell, but the cause of the smell is unknown. All students and residents re-entered the building at around 5:28 p.m.
March 6: Laundry room thief
At approximately 1:12 p.m., Campus Police were dispatched to Wolfe Hall on the report of a student claiming his clothes were stolen from the ninth floor laundry room. The student says he went to the laundry room around 2 a.m., washed a load of clothes and then placed them on top of the dryer closest to the door. At approximately noon, he returned to the laundry room and noticed half of his clothes were missing from the pile he had left. Some items missing included a Hollister hoodie, Young LA sweatpants, Champion sweater and his socks, coming to a total of about $145.
The student doesn’t know of anyone who could have taken the clothes, as he also checked each machine to ensure they weren’t misplaced there. Since there are only cameras in the lobby and entrances, Campus Police are unable to review any footage of who could’ve gone into the laundry room and taken his clothes. Since everyone living in Wolfe Hall has access to each laundry room, anyone in the building could have been the thief to his clothes. There are no suspects at this time.
March 9: Stolen pencil case
At approximately 5:35 p.m., a student at the College reported her pencil case missing. She said her backpack was open after her class in the STEM building, which led her to believe someone stole her pencil case. The pencil case was described as black with a red label that reads, “Designed for Arrangement.” The pencil case holds about $100 worth of pens and highlighters, including eight different highlighters and three different “brush” pens. There are no suspects at this time.
March 17: A letter from prison to comp sci
Around 10:47 a.m., suspicious mail delivered to the computer sciences department was reported to Campus Police Headquarters. The letter came from Mule Creek State Prison, though the handwriting was not legible enough to make out the name of the sender. There was no specific person addressed to receive the letter, just to the College’s Computer Sciences department. Under the receiving address, it read, “Rupert Murdoch News, the gun is a nickel-plated 45,” and the opposite side of the letter had the words, “Comp Sci,” written in purple pen.
Around 11 a.m., Campus Police opened the mail which held a letter. The letter states multiple statements on the John F. Kennedy assassination, including a diagram, but had nothing included that would threaten or target anyone specifically at the College. The letter also included instructions to play a slowed down video of the John F. Kennedy assasination.
March 23: Failed ramen
Campus Police reported to Decker Hall for an active fire, stemming going from a resident’s room. The student said they were cooking ramen in the microwave when it began to smoke, initially setting off the alarm. At this time, there was no smoke or fire present. Ewing Squad 30 arrived on scene at 11:15 p.m. and reset the smoke detector.
March 29: Scent diffuser
Around 5:39 p.m., a smoke alarm was activated in a Cromwell Hall resident room. The student was unsure why her alarm was going off, but Ewing Fire Squad 30 determined it was caused by a scent diffuser that was placed too close to the smoke detector. The student was advised to remove the diffuser.
March 30: Burnt hair
At approximately 12:31 p.m., the fire alarm in Ely, Allen and Brewster Halls was activated. Campus Police found the point of activation was coming from a student’s room in Allen. They met with the student who stated she left her hair straightener on for too long. There was no fire, but a slight amount of smoke was seen in the air. The student was advised to open the window and turn on a fan to air out the smoke.
March 31: Orbeez drive by
Around 6 p.m., four juveniles not affiliated with the College struck people walking in Campus Town with gel pellets that seemed to be Orbeez. The individuals did a “drive by” in a black Honda CR-V wearing ski masks. As of April 1, one juvenile, from Ewing Township, was caught and arrested by Campus Police.
This isn’t the first time a situation like this has happened at the College, as similar incidents have occurred in January 2024 and at the end of August in 2025. However, there are no connections to the previous incidents. Other situations have also occurred in fellow New Jersey colleges. The investigation is ongoing to identify the other involved parties.
