Unoccupied Student Rentals Burglarized During COVID-19 Crisis; City Police Protocol Varies

Frostburg State University students left campus for spring break on Friday, March 13 and planned to return by Monday, April 6 when in-person instruction was scheduled to resume. However, after the University System of Maryland announced on March 19, 2020, the rest of the semester instruction would take place online, many students who live off-campus decided to delay returning to Frostburg to retrieve their belongings in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

FSU Junior Amanda Borsa, a resident of 121 Wood Street, was one of those students. Unfortunately, during her time away from Frostburg, her home was the site of a robbery.

“All of my roommates and I went home for spring break,” she says. “Then, last Saturday, March 29, I went up to Frostburg to get some other stuff out of my house since we knew that school wasn’t going back in session. It was weird because when I got there, the back door was unlocked,” says Borsa. “My roommates are all pretty good at making sure the doors are locked at all times, so I just said they thought it was weird also.”

Borsa reached out to Eddie, her landlord with Legacy Student Housing LLC who owns the rental, and asked if the exterior work done in the student’s absence was related to the door being unlocked.

“Work was being done on the outside of the house by the landlord, so we mentioned something to him and he said none of his workers had been in the house,” she says.

When Borsa left on March 29, she affirms she double-checked that the front and back doors were locked and dead-bolted.

Then, on April 3, one of Borsa’s roommates, Akil Prentice, returned to the house to retrieve some of his belongings, “and that’s when we all found out we had gotten broken into,” she says.

“They broke down all of my roommates’ doors except for one,” tells Borsa. “They stole a 42-inch Smart TV, a Fire Stick, a Sony speaker, a big jar of change that amounted to probably $40 from my boyfriend and me, and from my roommate, a TV, and an Xbox.”

The estimated value of items stolen is $750. The estimated cost of the damage to the property is unknown.

Borsa’s roommate messaged the group to tell them about the condition of the house and the missing valuables. She also called the Frostburg City Police Department (FPD).

“My roommate that was up there called the police, but they were not doing house calls because of COVID-19,” says Borsa. “They still made a police report and my roommate sent him all the pictures he took of the house.”

Borsa found this lack of police intervention surprising.

“My brother is a police officer here in Baltimore, and he said that this was ridiculous,” she says. “It’s a shame about the police force.”

When asked about whether the FPD declined to make a house call to investigate the Wood Street robbery, Chief Nicholas Costello wrote by email, “Amidst the COVID-19 issue, officers may take various non-emergency reports by telephone. However, our officers continue to respond to the scenes of emergency incidents, incidents in progress, incidents where an arrest may occur at the scene or where a suspect is present or in the area, incidents where someone is injured or a violent act has occurred, and other incidents or circumstances where immediate police action is necessary. Similar practices have been adopted by Maryland State Police and other police agencies.”

Costello did not give a direct answer about the Wood Street incident.

He continued, “our officers continue to provide normal patrol coverage of our neighborhoods, businesses, parks, schools, and other areas of the City, and to respond to emergencies and public safety concerns. We encourage the public to continue to report crimes, suspicious activity, and community concerns.”

The police report for the incident lists Sgt. Jeremy Durst as the assigned officer. The full report can be found here.

Lucas Stahl, another student at FSU, says that his off-campus student rental was also burglarized. He wrote on Twitter, “psa frostburg homies: someone broke into my house on maple st. & stole all my valuables/electronics. please lock your doors, windows, & stay safe.”

His rental, located at 133 Maple Street, was unoccupied for a few days before Stahl realized he had been robbed on April 6. Stahl’s rental is managed by Blackbear Property Management.

“My parents live at Deep Creek Lake. Therefore, I’ve been staying there. I do stay in Frostburg at least one or two nights a week, though,” he says.

“The home was vacant when they broke in through a window that had a window unit air conditioner in it,” says Stahl.

Upon realizing what had happened, Stahl called the FPD to report the incident. Unlike the Wood Street burglary report three days prior, the FPD physically responded to the scene on Maple.

In his report, Patrolman Christopher Mullaney wrote, “Negative COVID-19 screening with complainant.” The full report can be seen here. According to Stahl, Mullaney “didn’t take any photos” of the scene.

Stahl says the robber(s) stole “my 50-inch Samsung Smart TV that was mounted on the wall, so they came prepared with tools. Also, they stole two sets of surround speakers, a Bose Bluetooth speaker, watches, and chains.” Stahl says other items may be missing, too. The initial estimated value of items stolen is over $1,000. Mullaney wrote in the police report the TV and Bose speaker had a combined value of $750 alone.

Mullaney also wrote he “contacted several neighbors and was unable to gather any further information.”

In the Wood Street robbery, Sgt. Durst did not report that he attempted to speak with Borsa’s neighbors to get further information.

It is unknown why the FPD response protocol changed between April 3 and April 6 related to attending to burglary reports.

In his March 27 Facebook address, Mayor Flanigan assured residents of the city that “City Essential Services, including police” would still be operating despite COVID-19 safety measures. Flanigan said, “If you have an emergency, we have people on call 24 hours a day as always.”

On their own Facebook account, the FPD did not announce changes in response protocol. With the exception of a March 23 post about no longer enforcing winter weather-related parking restrictions, the FPD has not announced any changes in protocol.

Chief Costello wrote by email, “we are continually assessing the COVID-19 situation and working to provide high-quality police services while trying to minimize contacts.”

Since Stahl’s public Twitter announcement about the robbery of his rental on Maple Street, other students have written they feared their unoccupied rentals could be the scene of a crime, too.

One wrote that he planned to return to Frostburg as soon as possible, though he initially had not planned to make the trip until May. “I was gonna wait to come back and get my stuff since my landlord told me I couldn’t get my money back, but now I feel like I have to come ASAP and assess things.”

Borsa goes further, “whoever is robbing these houses are taking advantage of the students not being in Frostburg because of everything that’s going on.”

If you have any information related to the robbery at 121 Wood Street or 133 Maple Street, please call the Frostburg Police Department at (301) 689-3000.