Police: Burglar Targetting Homes with Enclosed Porches

Police are urging residents with enclosed porches to lock their porch doors.

Springfield Police say a burglar has been targeting Springfield homes with enclosed front porches. The burglar looks for houses with front porches because the porches front doors are often left unlocked, and the porch walls provide him cover to break into houses unnoticed.

Captain John Cook, the officer-in-charge of the Springfield Police Department,
is warning residents about a recent spike of houses burglaries. Between April 14 and April 25, several Springfield homes were broken into, with the burglar using the same method each time.

Police say the burglar is not deterred by burglar alarms, as he will enter the front porch that on most houses which tend to be unlocked. Once inside the enclosed porch, he kicks in the front door to the house with the porch concealing his activity
from neighbors or persons on the street.

The burglar has hit houses near the Morris Avenue Union border. Union Police have reported identical types of house burglaries along their border with Springfield as well.

“To date there have been houses broken into that are on Riverside Drive, Battlehill Avenue and Washington Avenue,” Detective Sgt. Judd Levenson said in an email. “The suspect will immediately go to the master bedroom looking to steal only jewelry and money but he will not take larger items that cannot be concealed in his pockets.”

Springfield is working with Union police detectives to solve the crimes.

Witnesses who saw the man leave a house at approximately 8:30 a.m. on April 25 described him as a 6’2” black male with a medium build. They said he looked to be in his late 30s to early 40s and was wearing a grey sweatshirt with grey colored sweat pants.

“It appears the burglar, by his dress, may be dressed to appear to be an individual who feigns walking/jogging thru the residential areas until he finds a house with an enclosed front porch and no cars in the driveway,” Levenson said. “The suspect has hit as early as 8:30 a.m. and as late as 1:15 p.m. and all houses have had enclosed front porches with the porch door being unlocked.”

Captain Cook stated that he has had increased patrols including unmarked cars patrolling the likely residential areas and he urges residents with enclosed front porches to lock the exterior porch door to deny the suspect the ability to enter the porch. Police say the additional locked door may be a momentary inconvenience to residents but could prevent their home from getting robbed.

Anyone seeing anything suspicious or a person matching the description of the burglary suspect is urged to call the Springfield Police immediately at either the main number of 973-376-0400 or dialing 9-1-1.