Denver Police suspect a single person is responsible for 11 burglaries near campus in the past two months. In two cases, residents were home during the break-in and were threatened by an armed suspect, says DU Campus Safety Director Don Enloe.
The break-ins happened after Jan. 1, according to police, and all but one incident took place on the 2000–2300 block of South High Street. Most times, the break-ins occurred late at night or in early morning.
Officials are not certain if these occurrences are related to the string of burglaries that occurred off-campus in fall 2008.
Though descriptions of the suspect match up to a single person, Enloe says, police aren’t ruling out the involvement of additional parties in the string of burglaries.
Denver Police and DU Campus Safety are warning residents near campus to take precautions. The agencies are working together to coordinate extra patrols of the area with marked and unmarked vehicles.
“This is a little unusual,” Enloe says, noting that on average, there are just two or three cases of burglary every few months in off-campus student residences.
In all cases, electronics such as TVs, iPods and laptops were stolen.
Enloe says the first precaution to take is to be smart and lock your doors. Four houses that were burglarized were left unlocked.
“Anything you can do to slow it down or make a little more noise helps,” he says.
“It’s about common sense,” says Sonny Jackson, Denver Police public information officer, citing well-lit homes and locking doors and windows as examples of burglary prevention.
Jackson encourages residents to call 911 if they notice someone loitering around the area or walking in between houses.
“We need residents to be extra eyes and ears,” Jackson says.
Police also report an increase in burglaries in other nearby neighborhoods.
Anyone with information can call Denver police at 720–913–6120.