Thanksgiving break brings string of burglaries

Like eating turkey and watching football, burglaries are a holiday tradition.

This year proved to be no exception with a string of burglaries during Thanksgiving break leaving at least 10 Bloomington homes with broken windows, kicked in doors and missing property.

The high number of students leaving town for holiday breaks create a perfect opportunity for thieves, said Lt. David Drake of the Bloomington
Police Department.

“Any time students are gone for Thanksgiving or Christmas break, we usually see an increase in burglary reports when they return,” Drake said.

On Saturday, a 21-year-old male returned from Thanksgiving break to his home in the 400 block of East 16th Street to find a window had been broken, Drake said.

Someone had entered his home through the window and stolen five flat screen televisions, an Xbox 360, a Playstation 3, a home theater system and a MacBook.
Also on Saturday, a man reported that two guitars of his were stolen — a cream-colored Fender Telecaster, valued at $1,000, and a wood-colored Epiphone acoustic.

On Sunday, a 21-year-old female returned to her home on the 500 block of North Washington Street to find her front door had been forced open. Six flat screen televisions had been stolen, Drake said.

That same day, another 21-year-old female also returned home to North Washington Street to find her home had been broken into. Here, six flat screen TVs were stolen, as well as an iPhone, an iPod and some watches.

Drake said four more break ins were reported Sunday, resulting in stolen Xboxes, Playstations, video games, jewelry and laptops.

On Monday, a 29-year-old resident who had left for the holiday on Thursday returned home to find several items missing including an Xbox and two jewelry boxes containing several pieces of jewelry.

This time, entry had been gained through a window that had been inadvertently left unlocked.

While there is no guaranteed way to prevent burglaries, Drake said there are many things students and Bloomington residents can do to better protect their homes and property during holidays.

“If they have anything terribly valuable, they should probably take it with them,” Drake said.

Another important thing to do, Drake said, is to give residences the appearance that someone is home, by leaving a light or television on.

It’s also a good idea to cancel newspaper delivery services while on vacation, he said, so the papers don’t pile up on the front door step — a sure sign that nobody is home.

“And make sure the drapes and blinds are pulled,” Drake said. “Make sure that the windows and doors are locked.”