Jon wrote us about an attempted break-in at his house and wanted to warn neighbors. According to Jon, police told him that there have been eight such break-ins over the past few days within a four-block area.
I just wanted to make my neighbors aware that there has been a rash of home invasions in the Loyal Heights area. Apparently, this perpetrator is using the same tactics in each incident, thus developing a fairly consistent M.O. At 9:30 PM, this Saturday, we returned home (17th and 73rd NW) after a day of activity to find our kitchen window had been jimmied open; breaking the window lock and wood framing. The window was ajar.
The perpetrator failed to enter the house, we believe, due to the kindness and vigilance of our next-door neighbor whose dog barked persistently enough to rouse suspicion; causing our neighbor to investigate our darkened backyard with a flashlight at approximately 7:30 PM, a probable time of the offense.
Jon says they returned home later than anticipated and the house was completely dark. “We believe such darkness provided an opportunity for malicious behavior,” he writes
We wanted to let our neighbors know about these incidents so that we may be, collectively, more watchful. Further, considering our own naïve trust in human nature, coupled with our misled beliefs that we live in Mayberry (see recent articles on armed robberies to belie such notions), we wanted to caution others who are equally lulled into a false sense of security that there are a lot of commonsense measures we can all take to protect our property.