This time, the lightbulb thefts took place in the elevators of Tanaka and Carr Hall, and OUPD has not released a report on the incident.
When the elevator doors in Carr Hall opened Thursday morning, what Ohio University student Mike Mallory saw inside surprised him.
“There were zero light bulbs in the elevator when I woke up,” Mallory, a sophomore studying sports management, said. “It was pitch black.”
Students said the lightbulbs in the elevators went missing in Tanaka and Carr Halls this morning. According to Mallory, the bulbs in Carr had recently been replaced.
This follows a similar incident that occurred in September, when the Ohio University Police Department patrolled Bromley Hall following the theft of 12 elevator light bulbs in that hall.
OUPD has not taken a report concerning the Tanaka and Carr thefts, Lt. Tim Ryan said.
In an email to her residents, Brittany Marxen, resident director of Carr-Sowle Complex, described the consequences of tampering with the elevators.
“First off, stop stealing lights from the elevator. Not cool,” Marxen said in the email. “Anyone caught with stolen property will deal with the police, not just the University.”
Rob Meeks, a freshman studying business who lives in Tanaka, said since this has happened before, the person who stole the light bulbs this time probably saw it on social media and copied it.
“Obviously, someone thought it was funny,” Meeks said.
The incident confused Meeks, who wondered why anyone would steal lightbulbs.
“I don’t know where the lightbulbs are,” Meeks said. “I don’t think anyone knows where they are.”
Another student living in Tanaka, Colton Detwiler, thought the missing lightbulbs were funnier the first time.
“I think it was a prank, and they kept doing it, and it’s not funny,” Detwiler, an undecided student, said. “It’s just a crime.”
Mallory said the thefts were immature and that students should know better.
“I was kind of embarrassed that someone would do that here, on a college campus,” Mallory said.
Meeks lives on the first floor, but still said he hoped the police would catch the lightbulb thieves.
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“They should be punished to the full extent of the law,” Meeks said.
Though Meeks thought the prank was unoriginal, he didn’t think it was dangerous.
“It makes me pretty happy to think that this is the worst thing to happen today,” Meeks said.
@baileygallion
