Rash of burglaries in Sunset Cliffs

It seems there has been a series of home burglaries in the past couple of weeks in the Sunset Cliffs neighborhood.

After I registered to nextdoor.com (an info-sharing site similar to the Reader’s Holler pages, but one must give their address to join), I saw that a man in Sunset Cliffs had posted information about the burglaries.

The man’s neighbor/friend had almost caught someone burglarizing a home, but the perpetrator ran off. His friend found a van idling in the alley and called police. No stolen items were found in the van and police impounded it.

On June 5, I spoke with detective Daniel Roman of the San Diego Police Department, who is handling these burglary cases. He said there have been eight burglaries in the past few weeks, with five of them occurring in two days — on May 20th and 21st. Though he said the burglaries aren't unusual, it is not normal that so many have occurred in such quick succession.

Most of the burglaries were committed during daylight hours, when the homeowners were away. Many of the crimes occurred near or on Hill Street and Cornish Drive.

The thieves have taken only items they can easily carry, such as jewelry and cash. One homeowner had a gun taken from a small safe that was broken open. It is believed that bicycles have been used by the perpetrator(s) to flee the scene.

An arrest was made on June 4 in connection with an attempted burglary on Hill Street, but Roman said the modus operandi of the suspect does not match up with the way the other crimes were committed. Police have no physical evidence to tie any of the burglaries to the suspect.

As to why the media wasn't alerted to report the rash of burglaries, Roman said they don't have the time. (I get the crimemapping.com email, and I don't remember seeing these burglaries noted; Roman and he doesn't have anything to do with crimemapping.com.) Roman said if anyone has any information, they can call him at 619-692-4818.