Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 11/28/07 Section: Commentary

Media Credit: Courtesy of Transport for London This is an example of what a modern video camera can record. This man had just set off a bomb on a subway train in London. When the bomb failed to explode, the man escaped from the train, threw away his shirt and then boarded this bus to escape. Using this and other evidence, police arrested him in Rome eight days later.

This weekend's discovery of a nighttime burglar roaming the residence halls - and how a student physically overwhelmed him until police arrived - was not just an exciting story but a tragedy narrowly averted.

The crime also emphasizes how Student Housing has not responded to suggestions that students made after the incident in August, in which a woman was robbed and sexually assaulted. However, as a result of this incident, Student Housing has finally indicated that it is studying some changes Ka Leo suggested three months ago.

The most important of these suggestions was that video cameras and recorders be installed to monitor building entrances. The photograph on this page shows how just one camera in a public place-a bus-helped police quickly stop a criminal. Although, in this case, the crime was an attempted suicide bombing on a crowded train, police use government and privately-owned video cameras worldwide to solve far less serious crimes.

Fortunately this weekend's incident resulted in no significant injuries, even though a UH Mānoa student risked his life and safety to subdue a thief. The woman who first detected the intruder also demonstrated admirable coolness under stress.

Although Mark Andrew Heath, the 20-year-old Wahiawa man and non-UH student accused in the incident, is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, realistically, he committed at least one attempted break-in.

Heath was arrested in Hale Aloha Lokelani, and police also suspect he committed a burglary in Hale Aloha ‘Ilima.

His arrest and identification, along with the fact that police are holding him for at least one other residence hall burglary, helps outline the kind of person likely to threaten students this way. However, details since uncovered also raise serious questions over the adequacy of Student Housing's responses this semester to a similar incident this August, in which a thief robbed and assaulted a woman in her room at night.

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