Temple student faces prison for stealing from Arcadia students

NORRISTOWN » A onetime Temple University student is headed to prison for burglarizing the apartments of Arcadia University students in Cheltenham, taking things such as food and electronics.

Nicholas Longstreet, 23, of the 2100 block of North 16th Street, Philadelphia, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to one to five years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony burglary charge in connection with incidents that occurred between February and April 2017. Judge Gary S. Silow also ordered Longstreet to pay $490 in restitution to the Arcadia University students from whom he stole items.

The victims were from Havertown, Bethlehem and Arlington, Va., and were students at Arcadia University, according to court documents.

Cheltenham police investigated a series of apartment burglaries that began in February 2017 at apartments in the 300 block of South Easton Road.

“The apartments are part of Arcadia University and the units are used for student housing,” Cheltenham Detective James McClelland wrote in an arrest affidavit, adding there were no obvious signs of forced entry to the apartments and that the complex has a secure entrance that requires a university issued card swipe on the exterior doors.

One woman reported that on Feb. 23 she was asleep in her apartment when a burglary occurred in the middle of the night. Investigators said entry to the apartment was made through an unlocked door and the woman reported cookware and electronics were stolen.

On March 30, police investigated burglaries at two apartments of male students who reported they were asleep and awoke to find items missing, including a laptop computer and wireless headphones.

“In both cases entry appeared to have been made through unlocked doors,” McClelland wrote.

Another burglary was reported on April 27, according to the criminal complaint.

In May, Arcadia officials received a tip that Longstreet, the boyfriend of another Arcadia student, was responsible for the burglaries.

When confronted by authorities, Longstreet said he was a student at Temple University and had been staying at Arcadia with his girlfriend for six months.

“Longstreet admitted to going into apartments during the overnight hours after finding unlocked doors. He would take items such as food and electronics… He thought he had done this three or four times in the last six months and stated his girlfriend knew nothing about it,” McClelland alleged.

When detectives searched the apartment where Longstreet had been staying with his girlfriend, they recovered numerous items that had been reported stolen during the break-ins, according to court documents.

The total value of the items that were stolen and recovered during the search of the apartment where Longstreet was staying was about $4,385, detectives said.