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Crime & Safety

String of Garage Burglaries Prompts Police Warning

Residents were home, but none of the doors had deadbolts, and there were no lights on outside at the service doors.

The North Aurora Police Department is alertiing the public to three garage burglaries that occurred overnight (April 4 to April 5, 2013) in the Tanner Trails subdivision while the residents were home.

Two burglaries took place in the 500 block of Kelley Drive, North Aurora, where someone entered through the side garage service door.

In one case, a person or persons used a screwdriver or other tool to force entry, then went into vehicles and stole a purse and a laptop computer. In the other Kelly Drive burglary, entry was made through the unlocked side service door but nothing was stolen.

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A third overnight entry took place in the 2800 block of Berman Road, where the offender(s) entered through the unlocked side service door. Nothing was taken in that incident.

In all three burglaries, none of the garage doors had deadbolts and there were no lights on outside the service doors. While the offender(s) made entry into the garages, they did not attempt entry into the residences.

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The North Aurora Police Department offers the following suggestions for residents to reduce the chances of becoming a victim:

  • Make sure all of your exterior doors, including garage service doors and doors from the garage into the house, are locked with deadbolts every night.
  • Keep all of your exterior lights on, including those at the entrances, and keep bushes trimmed low. This makes it easy for your neighbors to see someone lurking around your home and removes easy hiding places for offenders.
  • Consider installing window-well covers with cotter pin locks. This not only keeps small children or animals from falling in, but it also keeps offenders out. Cotter pin locks allow you to escape easily (i.e. if there was a fire) but keep an offender from easily getting in your window well, where he can easily hide.
  • Consider changing your exterior lights to motion activated lights to reduce energy consumption. Having lights turn on as an offender approaches is probably the best defense to scaring an offender off.
  • Remove valuables from your vehicles in your garage and keep them locked.

Police recommend you keep a file with model and serial numbers for your valuables.

"This is very helpful to the investigation if you are ever the victim of a burglary," officer Robyn Stecklein said. "Doing these things will go a long way toward protecting yourself from property crime."

North Aurora residents can schedule a Crime Prevention Survey by contacting officer Stecklein at (630) 897-8705, Ext. 716 or rstecklein@vil.north-aurora.il.us

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