Burglaries in the Kirkland Highlands Neighborhood

We always say the traditional phrases like lock your doors, set the alarms, turn on the video cameras, watch for strangers, and when in doubt call the police. But in this day and age of youtube videos and camera-able phones, I think we have a newer and more useful “self defense” available for our self-protection: the ability to capture photographic or video images by presenting to the targeted suspect our desire to capture their image without tipping them into realizing it's because we fear they are going to take something from us or that we see them as a suspect up to no good. If we are perceived as a stranger to the neighborhood and ask them questions as if we are prospective buyers or tourists or in need of help using what may appear to be a newfangled gadget, we are more likely to be able to capture what appear to be accidental but really are intentional images at a closer range and still preserve our safety.

The guy described below and above has been prowling around on Rose Hill as well. I have spoken with him face-to-face actually. I have a flag lot, however my car was visible from the street and he did not hesitate to march down my longer driveway. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon. Since I have a french door entry I saw him and he saw me. He had a ballpoint pen and a beat up pad of paper in his hand. I answered the door and he appeared nervous. He said he was out of work living with his parents a few blocks from my house. Said he was doing landscaping, gutter cleaning etc. for $15.00 per hour and asked me if I was interested. As it turned out I was, my yard and gutters both needed attention at the time. He looked down at his pad and paper nervously and sloppily wrote down the services he was “offering” and gave me a phone number. As he was walking away, I glanced at the phone number he gave me and the last four digits were 1000 (wish i'd saved the piece of paper now). His general demeanor (nervous / lacked sincerity and genuine manners) had me immediately thinking something was amiss… Before he was out of earshot I shouted “hey”, so where did you say you lived again. He rattled off a street in the area however now that I think about it he pointed the wrong way and then promptly moved on. I immediately went inside and dialed the number which went to a business somewhere in the metro area that had nothing to do with landscaping / home maintenance type service. At that point i realized he was casing the neighborhood. Ran out to the street looked both directions and he was nowhere to be found. Before I had a chance to notify police I received an inbound business call (i work from home) that distracted me from this definite threat to anyone in the Rose Hill area. Yesterday (July 29th, 2010) when I was out getting the mail on NE 95th Street. I looked up and to the west as I heard an approaching car and noticed a guy of the same build and same type of clothing (he was wearing baggier cargo / denim style pants green in color – mossy or military color of jeans, a yellow short sleeved t-shirt, and a blue baseball cap. He was about 150 yards away but I just stood there and stared at him for about 10-15 seconds, he definitely saw me staring at him. In attempt to draw him nearer so I could speak with him regarding his “services” I continued to sort through my mail while standing at the mailbox. I looked down for no more than 5-10 seconds looked up again and he was nowhere to be seen. All of the descriptions given between the article and the comments seem to be describing the same person. He may have had a haircut since some of the earlier reports but it sounds like everyone is either talking about the same person or a crew of thieves that are using the same strategy and perhaps taking turns at houses they perceive to be good targets where their attempts have been foiled. In the last three-four weeks I have come home to each of the following scenarios. One of my dogs was out of the dog run (no way for them to get out and the one let out was the barker – this has happened four times), I have come home to a front door wide open, someone moved my lawn mower to a different location in the yard and relocated some shovels etc while i was out playing golf one day. Both my front and back doors had obviously been tampered with what appeared to be a small crow bar or screwdriver. Just now I am realizing that there are things missing in my house now as well. Watch out for these clowns. Especially if your property borders any of the local wetlands areas. These guys seem to be working “swing shift” if you will. Each of the incidents I described occurred during daylight hours. they have been to my house more than once and they aren't afraid to go back to the same place more than once. More than likely they either grew up in the area or live in the area because they seem to know how to duck for cover and disappear quickly if they think they've been “made” like I did yesterday. When the individual of concern disappeared I began rapidly walking towards the direction I saw him and noticed an earlier model Buick four door sedan parked on the street (Got license plate number and plan to give it to the police). I stopped and stared at him, briefly made contact with him in his rear view mirror (didn't get a good look at him unfortunately) at which time he promptly folded up what appeared to be a laptop (i had made it up next to the car by this time) and he rapidly moved along. I know he was in the middle of something but when he knew I thought he looked suspicious (at least this is what I sensed) he cut bait and run.

I've had an alarm installed, improved the lighting around my house, and have kept my dogs inside lately. Unfortunately, when I'm home during the day, the alarm isn't usually armed, and there's no better lighting than the sun….the traditional deterrents such as lighting and alarms are good lines of defense during the night but these guys aren't operating at night.

hopefully this starts a thread that appears to have died off as there haven't been any posts for three weeks now. Be on the lookout for someone that would definitely look out of place in a nicer neighborhood. Age: 24-30, 185-210 lbs. 5'10″ – 6'2″ tall, broader shoulders, medium brown hair, block head, and definitely bushy eyebrows. not sure about the goatee however this sleaze bag was definitely not clean shaven. He looks and dresses what you might expect your generic hourly construction worker walking back from MdDonald's on his lunch break might. Not out of place during the day when we all have the false sense of security the daylight can bring, but definitely someone you'd stop and take a look at if it were dark out.

Sounds like these guys have a routine down and might be getting a little sloppy since they keep coming back to the same areas. Since this guy is rather “generic” looking he's gonna be hard to identify from afar…..but he will be wearing either a blue or red baseball cap. some baggy cargo pants (probably to haul any loot he scores) and some sort of t-shirt..i've seen him in a white t-shirt and a yellow-one so far.

Don't be afraid to call anyone of this description in. If they haven't done anything wrong they don't have anything to worry about. Sounds like the same guy to me. Don't let a shave and haircut throw you off too much. Make sure the nanny cam's are on and back up to online storage somewhere just in case they do get in and get your computers. If you live in a neighborhood where there really wouldn't be any reason for someone like this to be walking around like he knows where he's headed and you know there's nothing but houses in the direction he's headed, call the police immediately. My guess. Working in tandem with someone clean cut looking in a conservative car…perhaps a 8-12 year old blue buick grand parkway or LeSabre?

If you have a gun, make sure your ready to use it. This guy looks big, is more than likely supporting some kind of a drug habit,