Burglaries over break alarm city landlords

A spike in College Park burglaries over winter break has caused many landlords and residents to question why greater police presence wasn't used to prevent the crimes.

Property crime in areas densely populated with students tends to increase during months when students are away from the campus. In the past, police presence had been scaled down during these months, but the city's 2009 budget included $1 million for an increase of off-duty patrolmen to prevent burglaries in the area.

Lisa Miller, president of the Prince George's County Property Owners Association, said this allocation didn't deter criminals from taking advantage of vacant houses while university students were away from school. The association saw a noticeable increase in the number of complaints by landlords since December, Miller said.

"I'm concerned that [College Park taxpayers] pay $1 million for extra police to patrol, but there is still a problem," she said. "The question is how effective are the money and resources used?"

Residential break-ins numbered more than 100 in December 2008, according to crime statistics for District 1 — an area including Hyattsville and College Park — making it one of the worst months for break-ins for all of the year, according to the Prince George's County Police's website.

More recent crime numbers from county police were unavailable as of press time.

Miller said the city should be monitoring the problem more closely to determine why it hasn't been resolved.

"Throwing more money at a problem that exists never solves the problem," she said. "We need to find out if the money and people are being managed properly when the vandals strike during winter break."

Many of the houses that were broken into were invaded through smashed windows, Miller said, noting this sort of forceful entry is unusual.

"Property owners have been educating students in recent years to not leave windows and doors unlocked," she said. "This time the burglars actually did break windows to get into people's houses."

Akin to previous years, many of the burglars came in the middle of the night and broke into students' houses they knew weren't occupied, Miller added.

University alumna Tirza Austin's residence was among the houses burglarized this past winter break.

After leaving her Erskine Road house Wednesday, she returned home more than an hour later to find her front door ajar, clothes strewn throughout the house and hundreds of dollars missing from her and her roommate's rooms.

"[The burglars] threw a brick through a window in the side door, reached through the window, unlocked and then kicked the door pushing the couch that was blocking the door across the room," said Austin, a former Diamondback reporter. "All the drawers were ripped out, clothes were thrown everywhere and they put a table on my roommate's bed."

Austin said Prince George's County police visited her house after the incident to investigate the crime scene. She added police told her they made some arrests in relation to the burglary and have since stepped up patrol in the area.

"The police said [the perpetrators] saw me leave and then broke in, which makes me feel a little better. Because at least they aren't breaking in while people are home," Austin said. "But I still feel violated, just knowing people can get into my house. If I go from upstairs to downstairs, I have mace in my hand."

Property owners are encouraging tenants to lock all doors and windows, if possible, Miller said, adding that such simple measures can help prevent break-ins.

botelho@umdbk.com