Sheriff's Office: Residential burglaries on the rise, criminals profiling homes

Since October of 2014 the Carson City area has seen an increase in residential burglaries. Several of them have been along the main corridors of the west side of Carson City on West Winnie Lane and Washington streets. They are occurring during the day time while the residents are away from the home.

Detectives received information from a citizen who lived on Bath Street that she had an encounter with two suspicious subjects on Nov. 12, 2014. The resident stated a young female adult came to her home identifying herself as working with a local utility company. The young female stated she was doing work on the street lights for a company called “SMG.”

The young female told the reporting party she had placed “construction flags” in the backyard of the property. The reporting party took the female to the backyard so they could look at the flags. The reporting party became suspicious when no flags were found and began questioning the young girl.

When the reporting party asked for identification from the girl she became nervous stating she needed to call her partner and then the girl ran to the front yard. The girl was seen getting into a white sedan that had the trunk open and driven by a male subject. The description on the female was: in her 20s, around 5’4, dark hair pulled into a pony tail under a dark colored baseball cap, and described as attractive.

While this information may or may not be related to the burglaries it was in the area where several of them occurred. The individuals who are typically canvasing neighborhoods looking to take advantage of properties will not have any proper form of identification, are asking questions about who lives at the home, and are asking to come inside or to be shown around the property.

The majority of the time they are simply targeting the residence to see if anyone is currently at home. When they discover that no one is present is the point when they force their way into the residence or attempt to find an unlocked door or window.

Do not allow anyone into your home that you do not know or have verified to be employed by a trusted company you have asked services from. Do not open the door to strangers and do not be afraid to ask for identification from someone soliciting your business. All solicitors are required to provide you a copy of their permit in order to go door to door in Carson City.

We are asking help from the community to report any suspicious activity in their neighborhoods immediately to the Sheriff’s Office Communications Center at 775-887-2008. The suspect and/or suspects may be canvasing areas on foot going door to door to see if anyone is at home during the day.

Anyone with information in reference to the burglaries are asked to contact Lieutenant Brian Humphrey, Detective Legros or Detective Hatley at the Sheriff’s Office at 775-887-2020 ext. 41400.

Home Safety:

• Make sure all doors and windows are locked to include those on your vehicles, nearly half of all burglaries are done with no force, which means they were able to get in through unlocked doors and windows.
• Have a trusted neighbor or family pick up newspapers or packages if you are going to be gone for any length of time.
• Tell a trusted neighbor or family of your travel plans so they can keep an extra eye on the home and so they can call the Sheriff’s Office for any suspicious activity.
• Make your home look occupied, leave lights/radios/televisions on or think about putting them on timers so they are coming on and going off during different times of the day or night.
• Close and lock your garage.
• Have the Post Office hold your mail if going away on vacation.
• Never leave notes on the door saying you are away.
• Keep valuables and packages out of sight as much as possible.
• Do not store gifts, packages, and items in your vehicle or outside allowing thieves to steal them.
• After the holidays, break down any boxes before putting them out for the trash such as TV’s, cell phones, computers, and electronic games of rather than advertising them to criminals of what new items you just purchased and are available to steal in your home.
• Document serial numbers and etch or mark items in such a way in order to later identify them when recovered if theft occurs. Criminals do not want marked items because it is harder to fence and evidence of guilt if they are caught with it.
• Exterior doors should have “dead bolt” locks.
• Sliding doors and windows should have auxiliary locks to bolster security.
• Consider alarms systems.