By Mike Eldred

WHITINGHAM- Local residents are being advised to keep their homes and vehicles locked after a rash of burglaries over the last two weeks.

According to Vermont State Police Trooper Kurt Wagenbach, at least five burglaries are currently under investigation. Wagenbach says the burglaries have occurred during daylight hours – between 9 am and 3 pm, and most of the homes that have been hit have been unlocked. “People leave their homes open,” Wagenbach notes.

Most of the burglaries have occurred at houses along Route 112 and Route 100, or on roads that are a short distance from the two state highways. But Wagenbach says there hasn’t been any clear pattern to the burglaries. “It’s difficult to determine whether it’s someone that knows the back roads, or someone that’s just meandering,” he says. “We haven’t had a situation where it has been one house after another, it has been a house here and a house there.”

According to reports, the burglar, or burglars, entered victims’ houses and, in several instances, ransacked the house room by room, methodically searching drawers and closets. In some cases, the burglars have passed over victims’ jewelry, instead taking cash, electronics, and firearms. Wagenbach says firearms have been stolen in a number of the break-ins, not necessarily because the burglars are arming themselves, but because firearms are readily converted into cash. “I would venture to say that the likelihood of weapons being sold quickly is pretty good,” he says. “Firearms are a desirable item because there’s a market for them.”

Firearms are one of the things stolen from the home of Joanne Bourbeau and George Adair. They left home for a few hours one weekend and returned to find that their house had been broken into. Bourbeau was victimized by burglars twice in the same day. Earlier in the afternoon, someone attempted to break into the Humane Society of the United States building in Jacksonville, where Bourbeau is the senior state director for Vermont and New Hampshire. But the society’s building was protected by an alarm system, which alerted police and may have scared the intruder away.

When she and her husband returned home that day, they discovered that someone had entered their house and taken guns and electronic items. “It could have been worse,” Bourbeau says. “They didn’t take any personal items – although the gun collection was personal for my husband. But there wasn’t anything that wasn’t irreplaceable and, although it won’t cover everything, we have insurance.”

Wagenbach says the incidents started suddenly and, according to his past experience, are likely to continue until the perpetrators are caught. He asks that anyone who witnesses any unusual activity call the state police as soon as possible. “If anyone knows anyone, or thinks they know anything, or even if they’ve heard something over a cup of coffee at the corner store, give us that information,” he says. “Don’t talk yourself out of calling us, let us decide if the information is important.”

Police are stepping up patrols and motor vehicle enforcement in the area in an effort to deter the thieves. “Hopefully that will raise the discomfort level and yield some kind of result,” Wagenbach says.

Local residents should also take precautions with their property, and keep an eye on their neighbors’ houses as well. “One of the best things you can do is communicate with neighbors, check with one another. Look for suspicious vehicles. You don’t have to be trained in police work to know when someone looks like they’re up to no good.”

The burglaries in Whitingham come at the same time as a rash of home break-ins around Putney, Dummerston, and Brattleboro. Wagenbach says that, at this time, police don’t suspect the robberies on opposite sides of the county are related. “I can’t say that the burglaries are related to each other in any way, but we are all working together and sharing information,” he says. “It looks as if it’s more than one person or group. Sometimes people have bad ideas simultaneously.”

Bourbeau and Adair consider themselves lucky that their house wasn’t thoroughly ransacked as others have been, and they’ve taken steps to better secure their property. But Bourbeau says it has still been a disconcerting experience. “You feel violated, especially when you see the boot prints and cigarette ashes in your bedroom,” she says. “You feel like you’re not safe in your own home anymore.”

Police are asking anyone with information to call (802) 254-2382.