Brazen Thieves Target Charlotte Neighborhood

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by Kirk Hawkins, Photojournalist Darnell Hart

Story Created: Dec 30, 2012 at 8:03 PM EDT

Story Updated: Dec 30, 2012 at 11:34 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--Andrea Acosta showed us the electric panel and breaker box where
thieves cut power to her home before they broke into it and got away with televisions,
electronics and christmas presents.

The Plaza Midwood resident was out of town when she got a call that her house had been burglarized. Acosta's home was one of four break ins over four days earlier this month that Charlotte Mecklenburg Police are now investigating, "You get this false sense of security when
you live in an area for so long and nothing happens and then all of this happens and it takes you by surprise," Acosta said.

"It's a particularly disturbing type of crime because it shows some type of pre planning," said Leslie Sykes of the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association. The crimes are a sign of opportunistic criminals who turn off power at outdoor breaker boxes in order to shut off alarms before they break into the older homes. "They wait to see if the lights don't come on and if anybody says anything.
If nobody complains, nobody calls anybody. That's when they know the home isn't occupied," Sykes said.

Acosta is now looking at the possibility of moving her breaker box inside. As she hopes police catch whoever broke into her home. "I have full faith that they'll be able to catch whoever is
 reponsible and I just hope they catch them before they break into the wrong house and something bad happens," Acosta said.

Experts say it could cost at least a thousand dollars to relocate the electical panel and breaker
box indoors.

 

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