Crime & Safety

Highlands Home Hit by Break-In – Only Change Stolen

Burglary likely occurred in the morning on Thursday but wasn't noticed until late that night, although all that was taken was coins.

A home in the Washington Highlands was broken into Thursday, but the only thing that appeared to have been stolen was cups and bags of coins worth about $20.

That loss was less than the $50 value of the screen burglars destroyed to get in.

Police were called to the home in the 1900 block of Martha Washington Drive at 11:47 p.m. Thursday after the man of the house discovered the break-in.

He said he had not noticed anything amiss until he went into the couple's bedroom about 11 p.m. and found that his nightstand drawer was open and several cups of change were missing from the top of the nightstand, and there was some loose change on the floor.

Then he saw that his wife's nightstand drawer was also open and a jewelry box on her dresser was open.

He did a circuit of the house and found a window open in the breezeway with the screen missing all together. He told officers that in front of that window was a high chair with several sets of keys on it, including a set with keys to both breezeway doors. He found the window screen in their garbage bin.

One of those breezeway doors was now unlocked, although the homeowner assured police that all doors had been locked – and that particular door he was very sure of, because no one in the family used it because the screen door was difficult to open.

A plastic bag of more change was missing from the kitchen.

The man's wife told officers she had stopped home earlier in the day – around noon – and noticed a set of keys on the floor, but didn't think too much of it. But she also saw an older white cargo van on the street that she thought seemed suspicious, but she didn't put the two together.

She had left the home around 9:30 a.m., so it is likely the burglary occurred between then and noon.

Police found no evidence to pursue in the home, but a neighbor saw a suspicious vehicle during that time and gave officers a license number. Detectives were still investigating at last report.


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