Police See Rising Tide of Daytime Suburban Burglaries
Cheltenham, Pa. police are alarmed over a surge of summer burglaries that also have residents concerned.
KYW's Brad Segall reports that in the past six weeks, Elkins Park has experienced nearly two dozen home break-ins. Most of the burglaries have been centered around Old York Road, Cedar Lane, and Beech Street, with most of them happening in the daytime when residents aren't home.
Police chief John Norris says the police are working tirelessly to catch these criminals:
"We put extra people out, of course. We've also got plainclothes officers out, we've been talking to all the neighbors. When a burglary occurs we go to the houses on all the sides and across the street and try to get some information from them."
Norris says the thieves are quick and leave large valuable items behind in favor of smaller items like cash and jewelry:
"As a matter of fact, we've had some alarms and we arrived a couple minutes after we received the alarm, and the house has been ransacked. So they're in and out really fast."
There have been no injuries reported, and Norris says police are working with neighboring communities that have also seen an increase in home invasions:
"We're working with Abington and some of the other surrounding townships. Everyone seems to have an uptick of burglaries, and we're doing the best we can to try and share information every day. And so far it hasn't proved fruitful."
