This week, arrest warrants were approved for Cecil Hylton, the man who was arrested and charged in October in connection with two laptop thefts on campus, linking him with at least thirty other thefts at the University this year.
According to Maryann Wiggin, director of Public Safety, Hylton confessed to at least thirty thefts at Wesleyan in addition to the two for which he was initially charged. Middletown Police then applied for warrants for the confessed thefts. The warrants were signed and approved by a judge this week.
Since Hylton’s arrest on Oct. 11, when he was caught by Public Safety officers in possession of two students’ laptops on Foss Hill, Hylton has been called for two court dates in Middletown, though it is unclear if he attended the most recent date of Nov. 4. The October arrest came after Public Safety increased its efforts and in cooperation with plain-clothed Middletown Police officers.
Hylton’s confessions are indicative of the high level of theft the campus has experienced this semester.
“We actually made numerous statements to students when all of this began. The kids here are really trusting and we told them not to be so trusting anymore,” said David Pesci, director of Media Relations for the University, in a Nov. 6 Hartford Courant article.
According to the article, Hylton is 33 years old and lives in West Hartford. He worked as a substitute teacher for the Hartford school district before his arrest.
Hylton is also thought to be involved in thefts at the University of Connecticut and Trinity College. The Courant article identifies at least 10 thefts at UConn and two at Trinity with which Hylton may be connected.
Investigations into the thefts at the other universities are ongoing but will go through different court systems than the Middletown charges.
Since his arrest, there has been one reported laptop theft on campus, and Wiggin warns that theft of bicycles and other personal property is still an issue on campus. Wiggin says that many of the thefts occur because of doors and windows left unlocked and she encourages students to secure their rooms and houses and to use a U-Lock to secure bikes.
Wiggin added that this weekend a person not affiliated with the University was arrested for trespassing after students saw the person on the back porch of their house. While nothing was stolen, the person has been arrested on campus two to three times since the beginning of the semester, according to Wiggin.
Leave a Reply