Crime & Safety
Ruse Burglars Make off With Jewels From Brookside Glen Home
A resident called police earlier this month after realizing that her jewelry collection was depleted. She later learned that her home was the target of a set of ruse burglars.
When a Brookside Glen woman returned home earlier this month to find an open purse on her kitchen table and more than $5,000 in jewelry missing from her collection, she didn't learn until later that she had fallen victim to a ruse burglar.
The resident of the 8700 block of Brookside Glen Drive in left the home with her daughter around 6:15 a.m. April 2 and returned around 5:20 p.m., according to the police report. At that time, she found her purse suspiciously left open on a table, drawers emptied in her bedroom and a jewelry box gutted—it contained everything from a pair of Tiffany earrings to a wedding band.
Investigators didn't find any evidence of a forced entry, they said. So the victim contacted her father-in-law, who stops by the home to care for her two dogs on a daily basis. He said that on the day of the burglary, he stayed at the home longer to trim a tree in the backyard, the report said.
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When he went around to the front of the residence to leave, he was greeted by a man who had parked his 2005 beige Jeep four-door in the driveway. The man said he was asked to give the homeowner an estimate for yard work, the report said. The father-in-law opened the garage door and led him to the back yard.
"The man began counting off measurements in the backyard using his feet," the report said. "While doing the measurements, the man made two to three phone calls in an unknown foreign language."
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He then disappeared for several minutes to retrieve a clipboard from his Jeep, the report said, but returned without the board. He eventually told the father-in-law that he wouldn't be able to provide an estimate without speaking to his boss, the report said.
believe the suspect was working with a partner who entered the home while he kept the father-in-law distracted. The suspect was described as possibly Hispanic, about 25 years old and between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall. He had a thin build, short dark hair and a mustache. He wore blue jeans and was very groomed, the report said.
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