Students accused of breaking into Newport mansion

By: The Associated Press | NBC 10
Published: April 30, 2010

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Three students at Salve Regina University are accused of breaking into The Breakers mansion last weekend, though nothing was stolen.

Officials say the students entered the Gilded Age mansion, built in 1895 as a summer home for the Vanderbilt family, on Sunday morning.

Andrea Carneiro, a spokeswoman for the Preservation Society of Newport County - which owns The Breakers and other popular Newport mansions - said the security system worked as it should. She said
police were already investigating by the time the students had returned to their rooms.

The students face breaking-and-entering charges.

A spokesman for Salve Regina University said the students also face punishment ranging from probation to expulsion.

"The lack of judgment exhibited by these students is an embarrassment to their families, classmates and the entire Salve Regina community. What they did was wrong. The University is obviously disappointed and quite frankly, angry," a statement from the university said.

Four Salve Regina were charged in May 2006 with breaking into the same mansion and removing more than $100,000 in items, which were later recovered.

NBC 10 News contributed to this report.