At least nine multi-million-dollar homes in Arapahoe County have been targeted as part of a “distinctive” trend of burglaries that spans multiple states, according to local law enforcement.
The target residences are luxury homes that back up to open spaces like green belts, trails and golf courses, or have heavy tree cover on the property. Law enforcement officials say masked burglars break into the homes between 5 and 8 p.m. when homeowners aren’t there, and the crimes are thus being dubbed “dinnertime burglaries.”
The so-called dinnertime burglars have swiped nearly $1 million worth of items like cash, jewelry and high-end handbags, according to investigators from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and Cherry Hills Village who discussed the crime trend on Thursday.
"In one case, they broke into my neighbor’s home just two weeks ago and they removed the safe out of the wall," said Tony Certella.
Burglars had hit four homes in Cherry Hills Village, two in Littleton, one in Columbine Valley and two others in unincorporated Arapahoe County, investigators said.
They said the suspects often show up in groups in a stolen car, and are dropped off some distance away before walking up and entering the homes through the back door.
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office revealed Friday it's investigating a series of similar cases.
Other cases have been investigated in Arizona, where 138 burglaries had been reported in Scottsdale alone, Arapahoe County officials said Thursday. They said crimes following the same distinctive pattern have also been reported in California, Florida, New York, Delaware and Ohio.
The suspects in many of the cases have been people from South America who are in the U.S. on visas, law enforcement officials said. No suspect description was known in the Arapahoe County incidents, though officers shared several home surveillance images of masked individuals allegedly involved in some of them.
"Everyone’s on edge. We’re very concerned," Certella said.
“What we're trying to do is take a proactive approach to this,” said Sgt. Brett Cohn with the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office. “We want to educate the public. We want the public to know this is what's going on, so you guys can understand what we're dealing with, so you guys can take advantage of our information to protect yourselves and your neighbors.”
In a Thursday news release, law enforcement provided some tips for homeowners:
- When leaving your home, lock all your doors, close your windows and set your alarms.
- Leave lights on or use automatic timers to make your home look occupied and difficult to break in.
- Install motion sensor lights outdoors to illuminate dark areas.
- Consider purchasing exterior and interior cameras. Some cameras allow you to notify police of crimes in progress.
- Consider installing shatter-proof window-tinting to prevent criminals from breaking the glass.
- Be suspicious of people loitering around your house. If something looks suspicious, trust your instincts and call police.
- Join a neighborhood watch group and look out for your fellow neighbors.