Thousands of dollars worth of speaker equipment stolen from fraternity lodges

On Sept. 19, two fraternities reported missing electronics combined worth thousands of dollars were stolen from their lodges located in Old Fraternity Row. 

Sigma Chi first reported missing electronics at 1:37 p.m. on Sept. 19. John Jacobs, captain of the University of Richmond police department, said the incident had occurred between 2:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Upon second look, though, a second item was reported missing, and Jacobs said the theft occurred between Sept. 11-18.

Sigma Chi reported two speakers worth $750 total and two additional speakers worth $1,000 missing on their first report. Their second report added $100 worth of soundboard equipment missing according to campus police.

Kappa Alpha Order reported two turntables missing Sept. 19 worth $200 and a speaker system worth $599, Jacobs said. The theft also occurred between Sept. 11-18.

No other fraternity lodges reported missing equipment. The Lambda Chi Alpha lodge, located between the two other lodges, did not report anything stolen, Jacobs said.

“We don’t have a policy for replacing things," said Meg Pevarski, assistant director of greek life. "Fraternity lodges are supposed to be secure at all times so yes they were supposed to be locked.” It is unknown whether the fraternities had locked their lodge doors and windows.

“Alarm systems always help," Jacobs said regarding additional surveillance for lodges as a preventative measure. "But you also have to consider the costs, and accidental set off of the alarm, but it could be a good feature.”

Campus police arrive at registered lodge events around 9:30 p.m. and leave around 2 a.m. when lodges are shut down. “We try to patrol the lodges as often as possible, but we can’t be there 24 hours a day,” Jacobs said.

Nathan Mitchell, Sigma Chi’s president, declined to comment but posted on Facebook regarding the speakers.

“This past weekend Epsilon Rho's [Sigma Chi's chapter] lodge was broken into and all of our stereo equipment was stolen. If you truly want me to have a happy birthday, you could help my fraternity fund new speakers,” he wrote with a link to a GoFundMe page.

The GoFundMe has funded $1,180 in one day from 39 people’s donations. The GoFundMe’s bio said, “Guitar Center quoted us this morning a price of $2,600 for replacing the speakers, wires, and sound board,” differing from the original theft estimate discussed by Jacobs.

Despite multiple attempts, The Collegian could not reach David Moorin, president of Kappa Alpha.

There are no leads on possible perpetrators, Jacobs said, and it remains unknown if a student is behind the thefts. This case remains open.

Contact news assistant Holly Speck at holly.speck@richmond.edu