CRIME NEWS: Ballantyne, S. Charlotte break-ins

http://www.charlotte.com/breaking_news/story/360473.html

Ballantyne, S. Charlotte break-ins

STEVE LYTTLE
slyttle@charlotteobserver.com

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have sent e-mail notes in recent days to a number of neighborhood organizations, alerting them to a string of home burglaries in south Charlotte.

The areas mentioned by police are along Ballantyne Commons Parkway, Johnston Road, and off Providence Road. Those neighborhoods are in the police department's South patrol division.

In several cases, according to the note, witnesses spotted suspects but did not call police. The suspects were driving a light-colored Lexus SUV and a Cadillac SUV (Escalade), according to police.

The Observer's news partner, WCNC-TV, reports at least a dozen daytime burglaries have been reported in the last few days. Normally, the South Division is among the least crime-ridden places in Mecklenburg County.

During the first nine months of the year, there was an average of only 1.2 home burglaries a day -- for the entire South division. That rate has doubled or tripled in recent days.

WCNC says victims interviewed by the station said their doors were kicked in and their homes ransacked. In some cases, the thieves helped themselves to food from the residents' refrigerator.

It is the same sort of problem experienced recently at the other end of the county -- in CMPD's North Division. There, according to Sgt. Steve Huber, who investigates home burglaries, many of the houses victimized by burglars did not have alarm systems.

"When there's an alarm system, the burglars typically leave in a hurry," Huber said. "They might grab a Play Station or X-Box -- which seem to be the thieves' favorites -- but they'll leave in a hurry.

"When there isn't an operating alarm system, they tend to stay in the house a lot longer."

WCNC-TV contributed to this article.