In one of the burglaries from his dormitory room at Northern Illinois University in De Kalb, Paul Robinson lost his Braille watch.
In another theft, the blind, 45-year-old Spanish language and literature major lost his Braille typewriter.
In yet a third burglary, he lost some cash, but was thankful he didn`t lose any more of the tools he needs to live and study.
”It makes me very bitter,” Robinson said. ”Those of us who are handicapped, the equipment that we use is very expensive.”
Another blind student, Terry McCabe, a junior majoring in counseling, had $18 stolen from his wallet even while he was in his room last October.
Immediately after the theft, he brought an ax handle into his room for protection. He has since replaced that with a ”stun gun,” a device that delivers a temporarily debilitating jolt of electricity.
”I heard someone come into my room, and I thought it was my roommate,”
McCabe said of the October incident. ”Then I heard him pick up my wallet. I said, `Hey, man, what are you doing?` Then he left.”
”It stunned me. I couldn`t believe somebody would just come into my room while I was there,” McCabe said.
No charges have been brought in that theft, according to police.
However, campus police said Thursday that they had sprung a trap last weekend and arrested a once promising basketball player who they suspect has committed at least seven thefts from campus dormitory rooms.
Police have charged Brian Banks, 23, with one count of residential burglary, and he was being held on $15,000 bond at De Kalb County Jail, according to Northern Illinois University Police Sgt. Ralph Taylor.
Banks was arrested in his dormitory room, where police found a marked $20 bill that had been planted in a wallet in another student`s room, according to Taylor. Banks` fingers also showed evidence of a powder that had been sprinkled on the wallet to identify anybody who touched it, Taylor said.
In 1987, Banks, now a 6-foot-6-inch NIU senior, was ranked as the 65th best high school basketball player in the nation by one college scouting service.
He enrolled at NIU, and has played on the basketball team for three seasons, mainly as a substitute and occasional starter.
Banks was suspended from the team in October when he was charged with trespassing, although those charges were later dropped, according to police.
”The only thing he has told investigators is that he has a problem and needs some help,” Taylor said.
