Burglars Brazenly Targeting Upscale Placer Neighborhoods
GRANITE BAY (CBS13) — They're not sophisticated and they're not subtle.
A series of break-ins throughout Placer County have followed a similar pattern. The suspect or suspects strike at night with a brash method of entry: kicking the door down.
The burglaries have been reported in Roseville, Rocklin, then Loomis and now Granite Bay.
One victim CBS13's Ron Jones spoke to on Tuesday lives in Granite Bay. She is one of 33 reportedly targeted since last August.
"My daughter was very frightened," she said. "It was 10:30 at night."
Several weeks ago while and her children were asleep, it happened.
"It just was really dark and it didn't look like anybody was home from the front and it sounded like an explosion," she said. "The door just popped."
The door is kicked in. She yells. The suspects run.
"It was frightening," she said.
The woman lives in the community of Hidden Lakes Estates of Granite Bay, a very quiet, upscale neighborhood with high-dollar homes. Investigators say with all the communities hit, the criminals wait until the sun goes down.
Investigators tell CBS13 that suspect or suspects are pretty brazen. They usually just walk up to the front porch and kick in the door. And as soon as someone screams or yells, they run, avoiding confrontation.
But if no one is home, the suspects ransack the place. They still haven't been caught.
More residents are forming neighborhood watch groups, and cops are stepping up patrols.
"Just keeping a look out for what's going on," said Granite Bay resident Mark Noonan. "I think the police are out here more often. My wife says she's seen a couple more sheriffs cruising through the neighborhood."
But who are the cops looking for? What do these suspects look like?
"We didn't see anybody, but when I came down the stairs i did hear a car driving off," the Granite Bay woman said. "Didn't get the sight of car or anything, but just a footprint on my door."
Police suggest several tips for residents to keep their homes safe. Among them are keeping the entry way well light, joining a Neighborhood Watch group and installing an alarm.
