Burglaries in Chickasha continue to plague many local businesses and residents, despite several arrests by the police department.

There have been seventy burglaries since June, with ten of them in September.

“This town has always had its share of burglaries. It‘s hard to pinpoint exactly why that is,” said Chief of Police Lynn Williams.

Williams explained that some of the burglaries may not have been burglaries after all. Some of them may have been a distraction so the crook could break-in across town.

“A few instances they threw an object through the window, but the business owner didn’t find anything missing,” said Williams.

On several occasions, the burglars had the guts to break-in to businesses on busy roads such as 4th Street, Chickasha Avenue, and Grand Avenue, businesses like O’Reilly’s, Goodyear, Homeland, Ann’s Quick Print, and Ludwig Chiropractic. Many of the situations were defined by Williams as “smash and grabs” while others had more elaborate schemes.

As reported earlier by the Express-Star, the burglars who broke-in to the local Homeland shopping center scaled a pipe on the back of the building that lead to the roof hatch where they gained access. The three burglars said they planned it while setting around that morning at one of their houses. They were later busted behind the store by the CPD with a duffel-bag of cigarettes and beer.

In another instance, there was hope that the burglaries might stop. Because the CPD started the “communication chain” or “All Post Bulletin” to be on the look out for a van that was seen at one of the crime scenes. The van was later seen by the Tuttle Police Department patrol officers and they attempted to pull the van over for questioning. The van then sped off on a half-hour chase that made its way to the Will Rogers World Airport tarmac and ended in a violent wreck.

The man was later identified as Allen F. Law, and is currently under investigation for a possible connection to the local crime wave.

However, the break-ins continue this month on the same trend. With one exception; more residential homes have fallen victim to the crime.

The odd choice of items stolen by the thief’s continue to say the least. From Gatorade to Air-Compressors and Vodka to Laptops nothing seems to petty nor to lavish to escape the clutches of the crooks.

C. Thomas and neighbor J. Lumpkin were both burglarized and had alcohol taken “vodka and Kentucky Whiskey” and a gun.

D. Sumner had $10.00 and an “old plastic dust pan” stolen, while T. Wilkinson had his 32” Plasma TV, laptop, and Sony Playstation 2, and B. Alexander’s family to were burglarized of their gun, money, and checks.

Williams said, “Just when you think you have a hold on things, someone else steps up and fills the void of the last guy busted. I remember one situation were a kid was going door to door and asking if he could cut the homeowners grass the next day. If the homeowner wasn’t home, he would break-in and take what he wanted, which was mainly jewelry.”

“He broke-in to over 70 homes before somebody caught on and called us. I want to stress that is what we are here for. Anytime, if it doesn’t feel right…it probably isn’t. We’ll send an officer out to check on things. And in the event the officer finds nothing, it is better to be safe than sorry,” added Williams.