DeKalb PD spots burglary trend of bypassing alarms

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A community is on alert tonight about a burglary trend police are noticing in DeKalb County.

They say burglars are cutting power to homes to try to bypass security alarms.

Channel 2's Carl Willis went to Galahad Drive where the latest incident happened. Police say the burglars cut through locks and ripped the power meters off of the wall before breaking in.

Neighbor Lisa Jones is upset after having her electricity knocked out when would-be robbers ripped her power meter right out of the wall.

She thought nothing of the outage until she tried to open the door to her patio.

"When I opened it, I realized that some of my window screens had been knocked out," she said.

She said whoever caused the damage thought it would be a good way to get around her security alarm. Police say it doesn't always work that way and didn't this time.

"We have an alarm system too, so hopefully if we publicize they taking the power out doesn't stop the alarm from working that might deter some of this," Jones said.

DeKalb County police saw a trend of similar break-ins and attempts around Christmas. They said they made arrests and cleared those cases, but want residents to again be on alert.

"I don't know if it's gangs or kids, but he said they've been going up and down Lavista hitting on neighborhoods along Lavista; all the way up to Clairmont," said Jones.

A neighbor said she saw what appeared to be a work van.

Jones says the investigating officer told her to be on the lookout for a group of males in light colored church van with writing on the side. For now, she said Georgia Power has taken steps to better secure her meter.

"Now they put a double lock on it so nobody can take it off again. But it's just ruins your sense of security," Jones said.

WSBTV