It happened on Halloween night, when a Delta Zeta sorority member opened her shower door to find a man staring at her.
Purdue University Police Department Capt. Eric Chin said the student described a dark figure, 6’1”, with wavy hair.
She told police the man was wearing a navy sweater and had been lurking behind her shower door.
The man fled the Delta Zeta premises after she yelled at him and alerted other members to an intruder’s presence.
Albee, 44, was arrested an hour and a half later around 11 p.m.
Police had found him hiding in the shadows of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.
“Police were on the scene at Delta Zeta in under a minute,” Chin said. “I assume he was hiding somewhere in the vicinity until students called to report him.”
Albee had been banned from Purdue property after being reported for indecent exposure in a woman’s residence hall and a campus library in 2012.
He pleaded guilty to a felony trespass charge and served 183 days in Tippecanoe County Jail — where he has been kept 10 times since 2007.
On October 12, Albee was released. On Oct. 31, Albee ignored his ban and snuck into Delta Zeta.
It is unclear how he gained entry to the house or how long he was inside before he fled.
Albee is currently incarcerated in Tippecanoe County Jail again and is charged with voyeurism and residential entry, with a total bond of $65,000.
Delta Zeta sorority members declined to comment on Albee’s intrusion, but a freshman member of the school’s Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, Lauren Hoover, said she thought the incident was baffling.
“I’m so surprised that he would have even been able to get in,” Hoover said. “It’s hard to feel safe when someone can just break into a sorority house, especially with the security codes and other measures.”
Hoover said there is little awareness of the break-in on campus, besides the text and email alerts sent out by the Purdue police immediately after Albee was reported at Delta Zeta.
“I feel like this should be a bigger deal than it’s being treated as,” Hoover said.
Considering Albee’s ban from Purdue campus and his history of public indecency there, Hoover said she wished there was a better awareness of his criminal background and the threat he presented.
“I feel like there should have been pictures and warnings about him already,” Hoover said. “I’d want to know about this guy and not pass him on the street here and think he’s just another person on campus.”
Albee’s break-in is not symptomatic of a large scale safety problem at Purdue, but it demonstrates the threat of a determined individual, Chin said.
“Purdue campus, like most college campuses, is like its own city,” Chin said. “We maintain a safe atmosphere, but we are not immune to the threats of crime and danger like any other city.”
Safety on campus requires awareness and participation from students and law enforcement alike, Chin explained.
“Calling in suspicious activity is important, even if it might appear minor to you,” Chin said. “Technology and alertness can help us look out for each other.”
