Police arrest man suspected of entering bedrooms of female Northwestern students in separate incidents

Jeremy Margolis, Reporter

Police suspect a 32-year-old Evanston resident who was arrested Monday for attempting to enter the bedroom of a Northwestern student is responsible for three similar incidents this fall, police said.

Police were called to a house in the 2000 block of Sherman Avenue at 5:36 a.m. Monday after a 21-year-old NU student heard someone attempting to enter her unlocked bedroom window, the Evanston Police Department said.

The woman woke up and said something to the man who apologized and fled the area, Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said. An officer in the area stopped a man on a bicycle and arrested him on ordinance charges, Dugan said. An officer determined fingerprints taken from the window matched those of the man who was stopped, Dugan said.

Steven Manning, of the 100 block of Kenney Street, was charged with a misdemeanor for attempted criminal trespass to real property and is due in court on Dec. 7.

Manning was arrested and charged with three felonies in 2008 after police said he broke into the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house. Police said two students reported waking up to Manning in their room watching them sleep.

In September, NU students reported a man entered their houses, which are located in the 1900 block of Orrington Avenue and the 1900 block of Sherman Avenue, at about 6 a.m. Dugan said Manning has not been charged in any of these incidents, but police are still investigating them.

“Anytime we get similar time frames, similar areas and similar MOs we definitely look to see if they are related,” Dugan said.

Tyler Pager contributed reporting

This story was updated at 11:54 p.m. to include information about Manning’s criminal history.

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