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An 18-year-old high school student snuck inside McCabe Hall Tuesday morning, tailgating a student and stealing one laptop, according to Director of Public Safety Bob Wachowski.

DeQuan Mayfield entered McCabe at 10:26 a.m. and walked into several unlocked dorm rooms on two separate floors encountering several students, Wachowski said.

A female student realized something was wrong and notified the front desk, which then alerted Public Safety. Mayfield was in the building when Public Safety arrived and began a floor-by-floor search. Mayfield then ran out of an emergency exit, starting a foot chase, Wachowski said.

Mayfield spent approximately 25 minutes in McCabe and was detained by the Chicago Police Department following the foot chase at approximately 11 a.m., Wachowski said.

Sophomore Whitney Williams said she received a text message from her roommate telling her that Mayfield had entered her room while she was taking a nap.

“I guess he took my laptop form my bed and moved it next to her,” Williams said. “This woke her up and she asked what he was doing. He then said ‘sorry’ and ran out of the room.”

Wachowski said that Mayfield didn’t want any confrontation and “wasn’t aggressive towards people.”

According to DNAinfo Chicago, Court records indicate that Mayfield was charged with two counts of residential burglary and battery for pushing a student.

Wachowski said that he has “no knowledge that he pushed a student” and that “he did push a Public Safety officer while trying to flee.”

According to the April 10-16 campus crime report sent to The DePaulia by Maureen Greene, public safety crime prevention officer, there were no recorded incidents on the Lincoln Park Campus from April 16.

No campus safety alerts were posted to the building’s doors following the incident.

“We use the safety alerts when there is an ongoing threat to the community,” said Wachowski. “This person is not a threat to the university community at this time.”

Residential Education issued a memo to all residents and desk receptionists were given “additional training right away,” said Wachowski.

According to Wachowski, tailgating is when someone goes through a doorway and another follows right behind them. The last incident with McCabe was several years ago and nothing like this incident has happened recently, said Wachowski.

“That’s why we stress that anywhere with a card for people to not allow anyone to walk in with them, even computer labs,” said Wachowski. “We recommend students program public safety in their phones.”

“I am just grateful my roommate was okay and that he didn’t steal my laptop,” said Williams. “From now one we lock our dorms at all times, even when we both are in the room.”