Shelli WhiteReporter

On New Year’s Eve, Binnewies Residence Hall Director Dijon DeLaPorte and his wife left their apartment to spend the evening with two other RHDs. They returned to their apartment to find that it had been broken into.

“I saw the patio door open partially, but didn’t think much of it,” DeLaPorte said.

They left the apartment at 8 p.m. and returned at 2:50 a.m.

The couple’s wrought iron table was sitting legs up, and one of the legs was missing. It was lying on the ground by the glass patio door.

“I saw the broken glass and it clicked in my head “holy crap my apartment has been broken into,'” he said.

DeLaPorte said he called the police and yelled for his dog. Normington, a 14-pound dachshund, was nowhere to be found.

“We saw people and dog tracks leading to the street,” he said.

DeLaPorte said that he and the police deduced that someone broke a leg off of the patio furniture, broke the glass door and woke Normington, who chased the perpetrator(s) to the street before they entered the apartment.

“We spend the next 24-36 hours looking for Normington,” he said.

DeLaPorte said they put up flyers and called everyone from animal control to local businesses.

“People were really helpful, including business owners,” he said.

DeLaPorte was contacted a week later by animal control. Normington’s body had been found in front of the Ford dealership by the Brookings Mall.

“He had wandered across town and didn’t make it,” DeLaPorte said.

DeLaPorte said he and his wife rescued Normington from an unfortunate situation 2-and-a-half years ago and were working with him to overcome his “fear aggression” problem.

“Its ironic that Normington’s problem is what saved our apartment from being emptied and saved the perpetrator(s) from getting into [Binnewies],” he said.

DeLaPorte said he does not think the break-in was specifically targeted at him.

“I questioned at first if it was a personal attack, but I think it was a random incident, a crime of opportunity,” he said.

He said if it was intentional, that it was sloppy.

“I scratched my head for how well it was thought out, if at all,” DeLaPorte said.

Grant Galibraith, a sophomore construction management major, said he thought the perpetrator was someone who thought they could get away with it.”

“No one was in the dorms, it was an opportune time to break in to take something or destroy campus property,” he said.

He said his first two thoughts were concern for his belongings and relief that no one was injured during the incident.

DeLaPorte said Binnewies double-checked doors, windows, and even looked in the basement of the building to make sure nothing else had been broken or taken.

“I still don’t get it,” he said.

DeLaPorte said the SDSU Police Department is still investigating the matter, and so is he.

“I told CAs and student staff in the building to keep an ear open for any more information,” he said.

#1.1918792:4168556641.png:BreakIn5-MORROW.png:Binnewies RHD Dijon DeLaPorte lost his dog because of a break-in.:Collegian Photos by Corey Morrow