Thieves have long made it known they will go where loot is – and where they are likely to encounter the least resistance – in their pursuit of ill-gotten gains.
And while the 24/680 may have seen flurries of brazen, daylight “door kick” robbery/burglaries back in the days when people were more likely to be at work, crooks have had to adapt to current conditions as more people are now sheltering at home. Currently, it seems, the bad guys are concentrating on local businesses – shuttered during the day but presenting tempting targets at night.
Thieves appear to be targeting safes and cash deposit boxes, police sources and some merchants say, sometimes tipping safes and drilling them in place – time-consuming crimes which used to be known as “box jobs.”
Lafayette police were called out to one such crime at a local landscape supply company on Mt. Diablo Boulevard around midnight Sunday after the owner spotted two men inside trying to abscond with the company safe via a remotely monitored security system.
Responding officers found signs of forcible entry and evidence of the attempted burglary but the two suspects had apparently gotten away.
While precise statistics remain hard to come by as we’re still only weeks into Shelter In Place, anecdotal evidence suggests dramatic upticks in commercial burglary rates – perhaps more than 100 percent in some areas.
Unofficially, police have observed renewed criminal interest in “soft” targets where people are not likely to be a problem, usually cash businesses such as supermarkets, restaurants and corner stores which are likely to have money on hand.
Police, and many business owners beset by the increase in burglaries, also grumble about expressed directives not to imprison offenders caught during the COVID Quarantine – unless they have a prior felony or an aggravating factor such as the use of violence or a weapon during the commission of a criminal act.
As a result, many offenders police do catch and arrest have been “cite released,” with directives to report to court at a future date, and turned loose within hours – often only to recommit their crimes.
So who was robbed Sunday? I know of at least one restaurant that was burglarized – who else? And what was going on up. on Saint Francis Court last night???? I have a million questions…..
Theyre robbing stores in broad daylight to — groups of two or more stealing all kinds of things. I watch the exits when ever I go tothe store now so they don’t run me over on the way out.
Diamond K?