Student apartments burglarized at The Links

Police believe at least 12 apartments have been burglarized with a master key.

By Kathleen Pointer
Nov. 18, 2008

On Monday night, residents of The Links at Columbia and The Greens at Columbia apartments gathered at a neighborhood watch meeting and discussed numerous burglaries that have occurred throughout the apartment complexes in the last week.

"I was the 10th person, after three they should have told me to be careful and to watch my stuff," said MU senior Jeri Nichols, who was burglarized on Sunday.

As of today, there have been at least a dozen reported burglaries at the apartment complex and all of them have involved a master key, Columbia Police Department Sgt. Ken Hammond said. Since, all the master keys have been accounted for, said Scott Rogerson, CFO of the apartments’ manager, Lindsey Management Co. Inc.

So far, two suspects — Robert A. Hill, 32, and Johnnie L. Spain, 27 — have been arrested in connection with the case, but Hammond said investigators don't believe these two men are the only ones involved and that the department is continuing to investigate the incidents.

Hill and Spain were arrested at about 8:45 p.m. Monday after two separate foot pursuits. They were arrested on suspicion of entering multiple apartments with the intent of stealing property, according to a CPD news release. Hill and Spain had a master key to the complexes in their possession at the time of the arrest but are not believed to be employees of the complex.

Nichols, who lives alone, said she left her apartment on Sunday between 12:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. and when she came home her apartment door was wide open. Nichols said she saw no evidence of forced entry and that she believed that someone had used a key to get into her apartment.

"I always lock my door, and when I got home the door was open," Nichols said. "I had a suitcase by the door. They threw clothes from my suitcase, went through drawers and took rent money and my laptop."

Nichols lives in The Greens, which is located next to The Links on Clark Lane and owned by the Lindsey Management Group out of Arkansas. The complexes are dually managed with the same maintenance and management staff.

Nichols called CPD and The Links management after she came home and realized what had happened. Management didn't get to Nichols' apartment until after police had arrived. Her lock is no longer one in which the master key would work.

"They didn't take my TV and VCR," Nichols said. "If I hadn't gotten my lock changed I would have worried if they would be coming back."

Nichols said the CPD officer who came to her apartment told her that she was the 10th incident of that nature to have occurred recently and that it seemed that people who lived alone were targeted. She said her rent money was taken during the burglary, said she was told that the autodraft for her rent would be stopped for this month but that she would need to pay whenever she came up with it.

Nichols is now trying to break her lease with the complex in light of her recent burglary, but she won't be getting any special treatment. Standard procedures for the breaking of leases will be followed, even if it's in response to the burglaries.

"They would have to pay whatever damages caused by breaking their lease," Rogerson said. "We will abide by the lease. The lease is there and that's what terms will be followed."

Madonna Corbett, also a resident and an MU graduate, said that she has had problems with management at The Links. She said when she first moved in her roommate had bloodstains on her mattress and the management didn't originally want to do anything about it.

"If you want anything done you have to call, call, call," Corbett said.

The security light outside of Nichol's apartment has not worked for months and she said she called multiple times to ask for it to be fixed.

"I called and they never came," Nichols said. "It still doesn't work."

Nichols and Corbett and MU senior Kristy Hazell, all residents of the apartments, were all present at the neighborhood watch meeting that look place last night. Corbett and Hazell, who have not been burglarized, said that they had received no direct information about the burglaries from the complex until the meeting.

"If I was completely unaware of things going on, I would have had to come to the meeting to know what was going on," Corbett said. "They didn't say in the information about the neighborhood watch that we'd be talking about the burglaries."

Hazell said she estimated about 25 people came to the meeting and, according to Rogerson, the complex has about 764 units. She said when she called management to ask what the meeting was about she wasn't given any specific information about the nature of the meeting even when she asked for it.

"It's just like any subdivision or neighborhood," Rogerson said. "I don't think notices go out if your neighbor gets broken into."

Corbett said the incidents were being minimized. She said that management seemed to get defensive at the meeting when residents started asking too many questions.

"Basically they said there is no reason to be alarmed," Corbett said after the meeting. "They're minimizing it. Burglary can lead to so many other crimes. Why should it have to get that far before we do something about it?"

Rogerson said starting Wednesday the maintenance will begin to re-key all the properties and that residents received notice of this today.

Corbett, whose lease is up in December, had been thinking about renewing but has now decided against it.

"At least at Campus View (Apartments) I felt safe," Corbett said. "If Campus View can afford to print out a paper to let me know when something happens, I think this place can."

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Student apartments burglarized at The Links

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