2008 Woodie Awards
Robbery hits Hagan, Plourde
Mathew Kolesnik
Issue date: 2/5/05 Section: News Stories
- Page 1 of 1
In a robbery that shocked the Assumption campus, $1,000 dollars was stolen from the Hagan Campus Center. It is supposed that the money was taken from the Student Activities Office, from the Office of the Student Activities Graduate Assistant Erica Tolles and a safe in the Plourde Recreation Center during finals week, December10-15, 2004.
Both Tolles and Director of Student Activities Joe Golia were on vacation this weak. When they came back the Administrative Assistant Lili Zannote told them the money had been stolen. Tolles opened her locked cash box to find that $300-$400 had been stolen. Golia had at least $200 was taken.
Noah Harner, Assistant Director of Recreational Sports, was unavailable for comment, but additional monies were stolen from him as well.
Campus Police Officer/Investigator Donald Brickman is investigating this. Campus Police took the cash boxes as evidence and dusted them for fingerprints. There was no indication that Worcester Police detectives would be called in as well to investigate or whether the Worcester Police were even contacted.
The way in which this robbery occurred is what makes this case so intriguing. The money in Tolles' office was kept in a locked money box in her desk, in her office.
"No one knew I had one except the Yearbook staff. It contained the Yearbook petty cash. Someone must have seen it in my desk. They also need a key. I have a thousand keys. They must have had to try every single one and have had the time to do it."
This is not an easy feat as the Provoc office and Yearbook office are in the same area of the Hagan basement, and are often occupied, although they may have already closed down for break during the time of robbery. The money in the Plourde Recreation Center was kept in a safe in Harner's office. The moneybox in the office of Student Activities was known about, as this is the moneybox where money for movie tickets that they sell is kept. However, like the others, this box is locked and kept in Golia's office. Golia thinks that these robberies must have happened sometime at night when his office was locked. Tolles told me they were assuming that all three robberies occurred around the same time. One puzzling matter is how the perpetrator(s) were able to simultaneously break into closed offices in three different locations, unlock cash boxes and safes, steal the money and make a getaway.
"I was impressed with their investigation. They did a very through job," said Golia.
Since he incident is still under investigation, Public Safety is limited in the amount of information they can make public.
"We are following up on leads," said Campus Police Chief Brad Holmes. More information will be made available in the future.
Senior
History
Both Tolles and Director of Student Activities Joe Golia were on vacation this weak. When they came back the Administrative Assistant Lili Zannote told them the money had been stolen. Tolles opened her locked cash box to find that $300-$400 had been stolen. Golia had at least $200 was taken.
Noah Harner, Assistant Director of Recreational Sports, was unavailable for comment, but additional monies were stolen from him as well.
Campus Police Officer/Investigator Donald Brickman is investigating this. Campus Police took the cash boxes as evidence and dusted them for fingerprints. There was no indication that Worcester Police detectives would be called in as well to investigate or whether the Worcester Police were even contacted.
The way in which this robbery occurred is what makes this case so intriguing. The money in Tolles' office was kept in a locked money box in her desk, in her office.
"No one knew I had one except the Yearbook staff. It contained the Yearbook petty cash. Someone must have seen it in my desk. They also need a key. I have a thousand keys. They must have had to try every single one and have had the time to do it."
This is not an easy feat as the Provoc office and Yearbook office are in the same area of the Hagan basement, and are often occupied, although they may have already closed down for break during the time of robbery. The money in the Plourde Recreation Center was kept in a safe in Harner's office. The moneybox in the office of Student Activities was known about, as this is the moneybox where money for movie tickets that they sell is kept. However, like the others, this box is locked and kept in Golia's office. Golia thinks that these robberies must have happened sometime at night when his office was locked. Tolles told me they were assuming that all three robberies occurred around the same time. One puzzling matter is how the perpetrator(s) were able to simultaneously break into closed offices in three different locations, unlock cash boxes and safes, steal the money and make a getaway.
"I was impressed with their investigation. They did a very through job," said Golia.
Since he incident is still under investigation, Public Safety is limited in the amount of information they can make public.
"We are following up on leads," said Campus Police Chief Brad Holmes. More information will be made available in the future.
Senior
History