Derby police are trying to figure out who is responsible for a number of recent burglaries.
A lieutenant with the police department said there have been about 13 burglaries in the last 30 days.
“We’ve had a spike in burglaries within the last month or so, many of which have been on the city’s west side, anywhere along Hawthorne Avenue all the way to Anson Street and the surrounding neighborhoods therein,” Lt. Justin Stanko said Thursday.
On May 15, someone kicked in the front door of a house on Hawthorne Avenue near Laurel Place and stole cash. The break-in happened sometime between noon and 8 p.m., while the homeowner was at work.
The break-in put Hawthorne Avenue residents on edge. About 40 west-side residents attended a meeting at Derby Neck Library May 20 and formed a neighborhood watch.
Readers on the Valley Indy’s Facebook page have said there have been burglaries on Emmett Avenue and Eighth Street as well.
In addition, there have been break-ins on Derby’s east side.
Jim Butler, chairman of the city’s tax board, said at a meeting Wednesday he didn’t want fellow elected officials talking in public about their plans for the Memorial Day weekend because he was worried doing so could cause their homes to be burglarized.
He then said someone tried to break into a barn on his property and into his neighbor’s house.
Click play on the video above to watch Butler talk about the recent crimes.
Stanko said Derby police are investigating the burglaries. In fact, he said Derby police served two search warrants this week. Police recovered items they believe were stolen. Officers are trying to build a case in order to make arrests.
“Arrests are forthcoming,” he said.
Stanko would not comment on which burglaries the suspect or suspects may have been involved with.
At the May 20 neighborhood watch meeting at Derby Neck Library, retired Derby Police Chief Andrew Cota shared a number of crime prevention tips, ranging from writing down the serial numbers on your laptops to locking your windows and doors.
The meeting was put together too quickly to invite police, but Stanko said detectives have been in contact with the organizers in order to make sure police are at the next meeting, which hasn’t been scheduled.
Stanko said the recent burglaries don’t seem to have a pattern in terms of how the thieves are getting into houses or what they’re stealing.
However, the crimes have been happening during the day, while people are at work, Stanko said.
Burglaries have been on a downward trend in Derby, according to statistics provided by the police department. There were 90 burglaries in Derby in 2009 and 69 burglaries in 2011.