Burglars used the noise from New Year's fireworks to go on a crime spree in upscale Lake Mary neighborhoods. They crashed through windows at five homes in the Lake Mary Woods and Woldunn subdivisions to try to get inside the houses.
In most cases, the crooks weren't all that successful, but it certainly dampened New Year's celebrations when people got home and found broken glass.The burglars did the same thing at every home. They snuck on to the back porch and then tried to smash the door on the master bedroom.
Kathy Hiss' celebrations came to an abrupt end when she noticed the hole in her bedroom door. Somebody tried to get in, but then stopped, possibly because of the family dog."She started barking and maybe it did scare them off," she said.Down the street, neighbor Hamp Conley found the same thing. "Scary to think we could've been right there and somebody try to do this," Conley said.
The burglars were so brazen they broke into one home while the homeowners were at the neighbors' New Year's Eve party. That time, they got away with mainly jewelry. A total of five homes in the area were targeted. Two were actually broken into, all at just around the stroke of midnight. "They probably knew a lot of people would be out celebrating and the noise from the fireworks and stuff like that would create aversions to crashes so the neighbors wouldn't hear it," Hiss said.
Police think the thieves were not professional, but they knew enough to avoid setting off burglar alarms. Now people in the upscale neighborhood are beefing up security and keeping an extra watch while hoping for a safer 2009.
Neighbors said they haven't had any similar problems before. Police think the thieves might be familiar with the area and live nearby.