A female resident of West Quad Residence Hall awoke Friday morning to discover a man fleeing her room with her backpack and laptop. The incident is the latest in a three-month string of mostly unsolved home invasions, peeping tom incidents and thefts from residence hall rooms.

The 20-year-old victim said a friend left her door unlocked when he left around 7:30 a.m. Friday. She awoke around 8 a.m. to discover a man standing about a foot away from her bed. After she screamed, she said the man fled with her black Timberland backpack and Compaq Presario laptop computer.

The victim, an LSA sophomore, described the suspect as a black male with short hair, about 5-foot-10 and wearing a blue jacket with two yellow stripes on each sleeve.

The victim said she tried to chase the suspect, but when she got to her door he had already disappeared. Her room is near a stairway.

The Department of Public Safety said they are following leads, and have made some arrests in connection with the recent string of home invasion incidents.

"We don't know if they're connected," DPS spokeswomen Diane Brown said, adding that security in large residence halls has increased since the incidents began.

A DPS officer is assigned to each major residence hall 24-hours-a-day under the new heightened security measures.

Two DPS Police officers were seen making rounds in West Quad yesterday.

The victim of Friday's break-in said DPS showed her photos of suspects and took evidence for fingerprinting, although she said she believed the suspect was wearing gloves.

She also said the DPS officer handling her case does not work weekends.

"It's frustrating. ... if I have a question, I can't speak to the officer," she said. "I have no way to contact him."

The victim said she thought additional security measures could help prevent break-ins in the future.

"If they could put locks on the doors to the hallways, I think that would help - it would make it extremely difficult for (criminals)."

In cooperation with University Housing, DPS has sent two e-mails to residents to inform them of security changes this semester, reminding them to take basic safety precautions such as reporting suspicious persons and locking room doors.

Also, residence hall staff have been instructed to hang posters with security information.

The victim of Friday's incident said she had already taken basic safety precautions prior to the incident.

"I was good about locking my door before," she said. "The only think I can do to change is be more consistent."

She said the robbery has made her nervous.

"It makes me feel these thieves are always watching," the victim said. "It's really unnerving."