ORONO – Seven burglaries of items totaling an estimated $8,000 have been reported at a residence hall at the University of Maine, according to UM spokesman Joe Carr.

Police are investigating the break-ins, which happened sometime after Somerset Hall closed at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29, for spring break, Carr said Wednesday.

“When students began to return on Sunday, March 16, it became obvious that several of the rooms had been burglarized and calls began to come into the police department,” Carr said.

Of the seven reported break-ins, there were four on the first floor, two on the second floor, and one on the third floor. Items that were taken include a Dell laptop computer, three video game systems, video and computer games, and DVDs.

“There’s no sign of forced entry in any of the rooms [and] police have no knowledge of missing keys,” Carr said.

Police are offering a $500 reward that leads to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators, but Carr said they already have some leads.

Anyone with information is asked to call UM Public Safety Detective Sgt. Chris Gardner at 581-4048. Any witnesses who prefer to forgo the reward can send information anonymously to the UM Department of Public Safety’s Campus Eyes Web site at www.umaine.edu/publicsafety/campuseyes.htm.

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