Tuesday's Internet Edition, September 07, 2010.
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| JEREMY ALVER, right, dusts for fingerprints at a home in Ogletree Gap while Detective C.J. Oglesby looks on. Three newly built houses in the area have been hit in the last three months, with thieves taking appliances. – Photo by KRISTAN HALL |
News editor - The Copperas Cove Police Department is investigating the third burglary in a new subdivision in as many months. All three houses had been completed.
The most recent break-in occurred last week at a house on Winchester Drive in the new Ogletree Gap addition. An oven range valued at $1,200 was taken. The other two burglaries were in the division as well.
John Bowen, the owner of the company building the houses, said a microwave and range were taken from the first house broken into, while the front door and range was taken at the second house. The suspects also tried to take a microwave and dishwasher from the second house, which caused damage to the appliances, he said.
The cost of stolen merchandise at the first site was $1,500, and between the cost of items taken and those damaged, the burglary at the second house cost the builder $5,000, said Bowen.
Bowen said the burglaries would probably cost the customers more when they purchase a home. “We’ll have to budget for two sets of appliances because one set will be stolen,” he said. Bowen said he believes each break-in occurred between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m.
The suspects have gained entry to each house via an open window, said Bowen. “Since the second break-in, we’ve been careful to close all of the windows,” he said. However, the house at 2403 Winchester Drive had a stopped-up toilet and Bowen left a window cracked to air out the room, he said.
One suspect got into the house via that small bathroom window and stepped down on the toilet, leaving a muddy footprint on the toilet lid. He or she then walked to the back door to let in an accomplice, said Bowen. Footprints were left throughout the house, he said.
Bowen said the persons responsible for the break-ins have only lifted sellable merchandise; they haven’t vandalized the houses in any way. “They’ve been neat about it and tried not to mess anything up,” he said.
There are eleven finished houses with families in residence in the Oglesby Gap addition, said Bowen. Detective C.G. Oglesby of the Copperas Cove Police Department said no one has reporting seeing anything. Additionally, there is only one way in and one way out of the housing area, he said.
Oglesby said at least two people are involved in the break-ins, which will become a Crime Stoppers cases next week.