Home, Business Burglaries Continue

Police are continuing to investigate the rise in home and business break-ins and say they have no idea about what’s driving the trend.

On Monday, a construction site in the 1200 block of Petaluma Boulevard became the latest victim when someone stole $1,000 worth of copper wire. Over the weekend, the front window of Stereo World, 159 Petaluma Blvd. North was smashed, and a keyboard stolen.

Also over the weekend, someone broke the window of Sonoma Cutlery, 130 Kentucky St., and stole a knife.

Since August 1, there have been a total of 47 burglaries compared to 17 for the same period last year. These include residential and commercial burglaries, which have been evenly split.

See our map on the right for the precise locations of the break-ins

Many of the commercial burglaries have been concentrated on the Westside near the East Washington and Petaluma Blvd corridors. There, seven businesses have had their front windows smashed and cash registers taken, while another four had their windows smashed and property stolen.

Almost all the burglaries occurred at night.

Police say they don't know if just one person is targeting businesses or whether they are the work of numerous suspects. 

However, they want to remind businesses to not leave cash on premises overnight, and residents to lock cars and not leave valuables inside.