I just want to remind everybody to keep an eye out. If there’s anybody who’s riding around that doesn’t look like they belong, call us and let us come and check them out.”

Deputy Greg Smith

MAGNOLIA SPRINGS - A string of burglaries has taken place in Magnolia Springs over the past few months, and the local police are determined to put a stop to it.

A little over a month ago, multiple car break-ins took place on Village Green Drive, and now more have occurred on Oak Street during the month of June.

Deputy Greg Smith said of the thefts on Village Green Drive: “I believe this is someone local, someone who knows the area. There were three vehicle burglaries, windows broken, one shed was broken into, and a bicycle was taken out from under a carport.”

There were no leads for the thefts, and no arrests have been made. Village Green Drive is a one way in and one way out neighborhood, which only furthers Smith’s belief that the thieves are local to the area.

“They may not live there, but they’re familiar with the area,” said Smith. “They came in during a thunderstorm. That way the storm was blanketing the sound that they were making outside.”

A report from Oak Street back in April had similar circumstances, leading the police to believe the crimes may be related.

As of the June 13 Magnolia Springs work session, two additional burglaries had occurred on Oak Street.

“One of them is a summer house,” Smith said. “No one’s there right now, and the burglary actually happened in the guest house behind the residence. The other burglary occurred on Friday morning, June 9, sometime between 8:30am and 12pm, when the homeowner was gone. There were a lot of things missing from that residence.”

The door was broken in on one property, and while the police suspect the second home was left unlocked, Smith stated that the homes were both older, and thus it wouldn’t be too difficult to knock the door in without much force. Also, while no one was currently staying in the summer house, the second home is the residence of a local family who were all in town at the time of the incident.

If the suspicions that the burglars are local is correct, then this would account for the time of the thefts, as they would know when the family was going to be out of the home. Also, it is not uncommon for thieves to knock on the front door first to check if the home is vacant or not.

Deputy Smith urges residents of Magnolia Springs to be on the lookout, and spoke with the council about measures that can be taken to help prevent further thefts from occurring.

“I just want to remind everybody to keep an eye out,” Smith said. “If there’s anybody who’s riding around that doesn’t look like they belong, call us and let us come and check them out. A lot of times our house burglaries happen in the daytime, when the thieves know people are at work. Car burglaries are generally at night.”

When asked about what could be done to help prevent theft from happening, Smith stated that placing cameras on homes or in neighborhoods was a great method to help prevent or catch thieves.

“Cameras are a great thing, I ask everybody who is willing to put up cameras to do so,” said Smith. “Then we’ve got at least still photos, even if it’s not moving video. Also, upgrade the lock systems on doors. For older homes, they make metal pieces to go over where the strikers are and the doorframe. That way it’s not just a piece of wood that you can knock loose, and it makes it a lot more difficult to break in.”

Otherwise, Smith and the police force ask that everyone keep an eye out in their neighborhood, and if a car that is not recognized is seen or if anyone sees suspicious behavior, to call the local police department immediately.

“We get that a lot, when two days after a crime we’re investigating and someone will say, ‘Oh yeah, I saw this or that,’ and nobody called us,” Smith said. “So that’s the biggest thing, is how long they wait to report it.”

“That’s the problem,” Mayor Bob Holk agreed, “when you don’t follow up right then, because it’s hard to catch somebody after the fact.”

The police department would rather come out to check a hundred times and it be nothing rather than miss the one time that they could have either prevented the crime from happening or make an arrest on the scene, said Smith.

“Keep an eye out, keep everything locked up, and if you see anything suspicious, call us,” Smith urges of everyone who lives in or is visiting Magnolia Springs.