OHIO COMPUTER STOLEN FROM BUSINESS The Star Beacon; Ashtabula, Ohio - Geneva police busy with burglary investigations:

Geneva police busy with burglary investigations

MARGIE TRAX PAGE
Star Beacon

GENEVA - - A rash of burglaries in Geneva have business owners on guard and the Geneva police putting in some extra patrol.

n the last week, Subway Restaurant, the Geneva Clinic and Northeast Plumbing have all had overnight break-ins and all lost cash in the burglaries, police reports show.

Police Chief Dan Dudik believes the burglaries are linked, especially the Subway Restaurant and Geneva Clinic break-ins.

"Based on those two burglaries, there is a high probability they are linked. The businesses are within walking distance of each other and in both cases only cash wasstolen," he said.

The burglaries began last Friday night when a burglar broke into Northeast Plumbing through a window by the Driftwood Thrifty store, ransacked the office and stole $2,300 in cash from a metal lock box, police reports show.

A Geneva Clinic employee reported the medical office had been ransacked Sunday night. The burglar entered the doctor's office through a window. Though no medications werestolen, the office was searched and money was stolen from the petty cash box, the employee told police.

Tuesday night, a Subway employee found $250 was stolen from the restaurant's safe. A doctor in a South Broadway office was alone, reading at his desk when he heard a door slam. When he went to investigate, the doctor found the back door to the medical building was open and someone hadstolen the lightbulb from the building's motion detector light, police reports show.

The burglary at Northeast Plumbing may not be linked to the other break-ins, but the circumstances are similar, Dudik said.

"We are certainly looking into them all," he said.

Dudik doesn't think the burglaries are linked to the recent string of vehicle break-ins in the last few weeks.

"Those were crimes of opportunity, possibly by kids and those were in a completely different part of town," Dudik said.

Last month, the Geneva Community Center had a break-in and a computer was stolen from the building. Police later recovered the computer from a garbage can at Giant Eagle, Dudik said.

In response to the burglaries, Geneva police officers are giving the area extra patrol and are investigating every report of suspicious activity, Dudik said.

"The officers are checking the businesses and reporting back to dispatch. This is an ongoing investigation," he said.

In the meantime, the officers are interviewing business owners and residents and offering advice on how to secure property.

"We are encouraging people to secure their doors and report any suspicious activity right away. Don't think it is just a small thing. If you think something doesn't look right - even if it is just a small thing - don't think twice, just give us a call," Dudik said.

The Geneva Police can be reached at (440) 466-1111