Luxury home owners on the Eastern Road are growing increasingly alarmed over a dramatic upsurge in burglaries.
Thieves struck one house twice over the New Year, fleeing with jewellery and other valuables. And on New Year’s Eve itself, no fewer than seven homes were robbed in the Winton and Camperdown areas.
One resident told The Tribune last night: “I have decided to buy a shotgun to protect my property. People around here are getting very worried.
“If ever I get home late at night, and my dog doesn’t appear, I will not get out of the car. There is undoubtedly a group of thieves working this area.”
The homeowner said that every house on the opposite side of the road from his was burgled during 2005 – some of them twice.
And over Christmas, the resident said he had to chase intruders off his property with a knife after hearing them trying to get through the door.
“If I hear noises in the night, I just assume it’s a burglar,” he said. “That’s how bad things are now.”
Residents feel their properties are being “cased”; possibly by workers in the area. “They are identifying homes where jewellery, money or other valuables are kept,” the source said. “Then they strike when they think people are out.
“That’s why New Year’s Eve was a busy period. In this past year, every neighbour around me has been broken into, and I don’t think the culprits have been caught.”
Assistant Commissioner of police with responsibility for crime Reginald Ferguson told The Tribune that over the last month, there have been an “unusual” number of burglaries in the Eastern Road area.
Before the upsurge in burglaries, Mr Ferguson said that the police had developed certain strategies for the area. He had also said police have the burglary situation on Eastern Road under control.
Source: The Tribune – Nassau, Bahamas
