By Donna Hales
When Jessica Gleese realized her laptop with photos of her 1-year-old son was taken in a burglary, she was heartbroken.
“It had all the pictures of my son — I didn’t have them stored anywhere else,” Gleese said. “It was very, very infuriating.”
Gleese is one of dozens of Muskogee residents preyed upon by burglars in November.
Home burglaries are up more than 82 percent in November compared to last year for the same time period, according to police records.
“We definitely need people to be more vigilant in watching their neighbors’ houses,” Lt. Bobby Lee said. “If you see something suspicious, call us and we’ll be there to check it out.”
When Gleese arrived home last week to find her home burglarized, she was frightened.
“I had my 1-year-old son with me ... a scared feeling went all over me wondering if the person was still in the house,” she said.
She said it was something she’d worked hard for “and someone comes in and takes it — I’m frustrated and angry.”
Police offer suggestions to avoid becoming another statistic:
• Light your house if you are gone in the evening.
• Lock all your doors and windows.
• Write down serial numbers to make it easier to identify recovered stolen property.
Cars aren’t safe from burglars either. Vehicle burglaries are up more than 157 percent.
“They’re even stealing clothes out of cars,” Lee said. “People need to write down the serial numbers of larger items, or we can’t do much.”
Leaving items in your vehicle while at the mall or a shopping area makes you an “easy mark,” Investigator Greg Martin said.
He said not to leave cell phones or iPods where they can be seen from outside your vehicle. Don’t leave packages where they can be seen.
“People are leaving money (sometimes just change) in their consoles — (burglars) will break into the car to get it,” Lee said.
“They (burglaries) are happening all over town — from east to west,” Lee said “Of 26 home burglaries from Nov. 1 through Nov. 16, more than 69 percent (18) were in the daytime.”
Several businesses have security cameras set up in parking lots, which sometimes helps police.
“But they’re not set up to take faces,” Lee said. “It’s very difficult to get ID from them.”
And thieves aren’t just breaking into homes and cars — pickpockets are also on the prowl. Two reports of pickpockets were in Monday’s police reports. One woman told police her billfold was stolen from her shopping cart Saturday at Ross Dress for Less on Shawnee Bypass. She lost $100.
Another woman said her wallet containing $1,361 was stolen Sunday from her purse while she was shopping at Walmart.
“Victims said they only turned their back for less than a minute. Many times, someone is watching you — it takes less than a minute,” Lee said.
“Don’t leave purses unattended in the cart — wrap them around your arm — hang them around your neck.”
If you take a wallet into a store, keep it in your hand, police said. If you’re carrying cash — put it in your pocket.
When your wallet gets stolen, you often have to contact your bank, credit card companies and the Social Security Administration, Lee said.
Recently, a woman’s children’s Social Security cards were in her stolen wallet, Lee said. A man got a job using one of her kids’ Social Security cards.
Police were able to track him down, Lee said.
“It’s the holiday and the economy,” he said.
Burglary stats
• Home burglaries — From Nov. 1 through Nov. 23, 2008, there were 23 second-degree home burglaries in Muskogee. For the same time this year, the total is 42.
Second-degree burglaries are burglaries that happen when no one is at home.
• Vehicle burglaries — Vehicle burglaries during the first 23 days in November totaled 14 last year and 36 this year.
Source: Muskogee Police Investigations Unit
Reach Donna Hales at 918-684-2923 or Click Here to Send Email
