Published: December 01, 2008 10:27 am      

Burglars 'pick and choose' items; steal more than $3,500 from one home

By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

The Jacksonville Police Department is investigating the burglary of a residence, Wednesday morning, in which several thousand dollars worth of items were stolen — but curiously a number of other valuables in the home were not removed.

The crime occurred in the 300 block of Patton, and officers were called to the scene at 12:38 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

“The victim said she came home and observed the back door, which she said was locked when she left, to be ajar. She then entered the residence, determined that no one else was in the house, and noticed that a number of things were missing,” said Officer Tony Forson. “She found that six pairs of shoes she had just purchased, three Jordans, one Nike and two Air Force 1s, had been removed from their boxes.”

In her son’s room, she found that his Wii video game system had been stolen and that her PlayStation 3, several controllers and games and her laptop had been taken from the living room.

“Several autographed sports memorabilia items were taken from a glass display case in the hallway. According to the victim, her Julius Irving autographed jersey was missing from the case, but two autographed basketballs and an autographed football helmet in the same case were not tampered with,” Forson said.

A Smith & Wesson .38 revolver handgun was taken from the fireplace mantle.

Forson said the drawers of several dressers and cabinets in the victim’s bedroom had been opened and searched through, but the culprits had oddly chosen not to steal some valuables found there.

“She checked her dresser and found that the cash she had kept there was still in the drawer. They also didn’t take her Vicodin prescription, and those pills can sell for up to $10 a pill,” he said. “It looks like they picked-and-choosed what they wanted, since other valuables in the house — like big screen TVs — weren’t touched.

“That could indicate that they had been inside that location before.”

A small broken piece of the door casing was found lying on the floor inside the residence, leading officers to believe the back door was pried open in order to gain entry into the building. The estimated value of everything stolen is $3,590.

JPD has no suspects at this time.