Photo by Flickr user thepartycow
The Walnut Creek Police Association is reporting a larger than normal spike in home robberies in Walnut Creek, including those where residents are at home at the time of robbery, which is pretty disconcerting to say the least.
From their Facebook page:
We are seeing a fairly significant spike in residential burglaries around town. We are on track to surpass last year’s numbers and this does not even account for increases we traditionally see toward the end of the year. Most frightening is the number of burglaries occurring when residents are home. In the past few weeks there have been multiple incidents of “interrupted” burglaries where property owners come home and find one or more people inside their house. In some cases the residents have been physically confronted by the burglar but thankfully there have been no serious injuries. Last week we also had a case of a suspect breaking into a home to steal property as the residents slept. Most burglaries occur during daytime hours when residents are away so these trends are disturbing. Please remember to lock your doors and windows. Also remember one of the best defenses against a break-in is a close-knit neighborhood where people watch out for each other and call us when they see suspicious activity.
Props to the Walnut Creek Police Association for keeping us up-to-date on crime issues around town as well as providing crime-prevention tips. What would you do if you encountered a robber in your home? I’d call 911 ASAP and try to escape if possible.