College Hill sees string of burglaries

WICHITA, Kansas - Burglars are getting into homes and cars while residents are asleep inside. It's a trend police are seeing in the College Hill neighborhood and it's leading to a new warning for residents.

Since the start of November, criminals have targeted nine homes in the College Hill area. What's most alarming, however, is that in several cases residents have been home as the burglars rummaged though their possessions.

"Very upsetting," said a College Hill resident, who didn't want to be identified.

Another resident lost his car to thieves Saturday night. They entered the house through an open patio door and found some keys.

"When we got home, it took us about an hour to realize that there was a car missing," he said. "We thought one of children had our car somewhere. Turned out he didn't, so that was when we found out that it had been stolen."

Although the incident has left him angry, he sees a bright side.

"I'm thankful that nobody was hurt, we weren't here, there wasn't any violence," he said.

But some residents have been home when criminals have struck. A woman who lives in the neighborhood is still so shaken by what happened at her home early Sunday morning she didn't want her face on camera.

"Somebody in your house in the middle of the night," she said. "You don't know whether they're armed or not. You don't know whether they are still in your home."

In her case, burglars got in the house through an open garage door and then an unlocked back door.

"Heard a sound, thought it was my son, got up, the dog reacted very funny, low growling, low barking," she said.

She says police told the family it is likely there were two thieves. They got away with electronics, a briefcase, purse, cell phones and cameras.

Police warn there could be more victims.

"This is concerning to me because you can see it's a trend," said Lt. Barry VonFange with the Wichita Police Department. "It's not happening anywhere else in the city."

Police believe that the same people are responsible for as many as six of the incidents.

See story video at KSN.com

MORE FROM KSNW-TV

KSNW-TV Section Front

Mangino Resigns As Kansas Head Football Coach USD 259 sells advertising space to raise money Winfield school staff warned district may not make payroll H1N1 clinic open to everyone Budget cuts force Ag department to suspend lodging inspections KSNW-TV Section Front   Add KSNW-TV headlines to your news reader: