SOUTH CAROLINA COMPUTERS STOLEN Burglaries might be connected

Burglaries might be connected

TV sets, computers, video games stolen from homes

By Glenn Smith (Contact)

The Post and Courier

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Investigators are probing a series of recent break-ins on James Island in which burglars have struck in broad daylight and made off with flat-screen televisions,computers and other valuables.

Charleston County sheriff's deputies and Charleston police are working together to solve at least five break-ins on the island since mid-April. Investigators have not positively linked the crimes, but they see clear similarities.

The first break-in was reported

April 14 at a home on Back Creek Road. The back door had been knocked off its hinges and more than $6,000 worth of TVs, computer equipment and video games were stolen, according to a police report.

Thieves struck again April 28, breaking through the door of a Sol Legare Road home and stealing $8,800 worth of TVs, laptop computers, a camera and a pistol, deputies said. That was followed two days later by a burglary on Piccadilly Drive in which a $1,500, 47-inch flat-screen television wasstolen, police said.

Two TVs and a computer monitor worth $2,100 disappeared from a Fort Lamar Road home on May 5 after thieves shattered a patio door, police said. Two days later, someone pried open a rear door at a Regatta Road home and stole $5,000 worth of electronics, jewelry and collectibles, deputies said.

Sheriff's Detective Dustin Turner said investigators have no suspects but they may have a lead on a possible getaway car thanks to an alert resident.

A Rose Park Drive woman grew suspicious May 6 after a man parked a black Kia sport utility vehicle outside her home and knocked on the door. When she didn't answer, he returned with another man, Turner said.

The woman confronted them, and one of the men told her he was looking for his lost dog, Turner said. As the men left, the woman grabbed a camera and started snapping photographs. The driver backed the Kia down the road to the next street, apparently to keep the woman from recording his license plate, he said.

This piqued the interest of detectives, particularly since a resident on Sol Legare Road had reported seeing a black sport utility vehicle parked outside the home that was burglarized there, Turner said.

Charleston police Lt. Peter Farrell said police are urging residents around James Island to keep an eye out and call police if they spot anything suspicious. Police also are urging people to make sure their doors and windows are locked, he said.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.