By CAROLINE FLAX
Ithaca and Cornell Police have tied a Cornell student to three break-ins that occurred on North Campus early Saturday.
At around 3 a.m. Saturday, police received a call reporting a robbery-in-progress on the 300 block of Thurston Avenue, according to a press release from the Ithaca Police Department. The caller said that a man was trying to climb through a window to enter an apartment, but that he ran when the caller saw him, police say.
IPD and CUPD then responded to a call at the 300 block of Wyckoff Avenue, where someone reported seeing a man enter the house, according to the press release. When officers arrived at the location, they spotted the subject, who ran when he saw them. After a chase on foot, the officers caught the subject on the 400 block of Wyckoff Avenue.
Within minutes of the two calls, police received an additional call from a woman on the 400 block of Thurston Avenue reporting having woken up to find a man next to her bed who “reached under the covers and touched her foot,” the press release said. When the man was confronted, he fled the scene.
Police have tied the three incidents to Byung Jun Lee, 21, who has been charged with three counts of burglary, one count of criminal mischief and one count of obstructing, according to the press release. Lee is listed as a student in the College of Arts and Sciences in Cornell’s online directory.
He is set to appear in Ithaca City Court again Tuesday.