Police Blotter: A Bad Week for Burglaries

Five home burglaries occurred between Feb. 13 and Feb. 17: two on Estates Drive and one each on Inverleith Terrace, all close to Park Boulevard; one on Scenic Avenue above Moraga Avenue and Blair Park; and one on Arbor Drive, near Grand Avenue. An area crime map shows another recent residential burglary and an attempted burglary along the Park Boulevard corridor, although in Oakland.

Four of the five Piedmont home burglaries were daytime, weekday break-ins when no one was home; for one incident, the exact date and time are unknown.

MONDAY, FEB. 13

Auto burglary – A resident of the 100 block of Bell Avenue reported at 11:42 a.m. that someone had broken into his vehicle.

Residential burglary – An Inverleith Terrace resident notified police at 6:44 p.m. that she had arrived home to find the house in disarray and that the burglar had rummaged through drawers containing jewelry.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15

Residential burglary – A contractor working on a home on Scenic Avenue reported that someone kicked in a door and removed a board from a window at some time during the previous three days.

Bike theft – A caller reported that his son's bicycle was taken from the bleacher area at Piedmont High School the previous afternoon.

Residential burglary – Someone broke into a home on the first block of Arbor Drive between 9:30 and 10 a.m., while the man who lives there was on a walk. The house was ransacked.

Phone found – A cell phone was found at Exedra Plaza about 9:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. 16

Daisy, lost and found – A four-legged resident of Magnolia Avenue wandered off, clear to Arroyo Avenue. An animal control officer gave the dog a ride home. While the police log doesn't specify, we presume Daisy had a name tag, as it seems unlikely that she introduced herself.

Another phone found – A Dormidera Avenue resident found sunglasses and an iPhone. Police located the owner, whose husband planned to pick up the items.

Identity theft – At 4:36 p.m., a caller reported fraudulent charges on his mother's credit card.

Residential burglary – A home in the 200 block of Estates Drive was burglarized sometime during the day, the resident reported at 6:15 p.m.

FRIDAY, FEB. 17

Identity theft – A Ricardo Avenue resident reported at 11:45 a.m. that someone had made fraudulent charges on her credit card, including ordering an item delivered to her home that morning. Twenty minutes before her call, the resident said, a woman came to her door looking for the package.

BB gun – A Piedmont resident turned in a BB gun for destruction.

Found sunglasses – At 3:40 p.m., a citizen turned in a pair of sunglasses he or she had found.

Residential burglary – An alarm company reported at 4:19 p.m. that a security system was tripped in an Estates Drive home. A police officer investigating the report found that a burglar had entered the home, possibly through a small side window. A neighbor reported seeing a young man with a backpack in the rear of the burglarized home, but police were unable to locate him.

SATURDAY, FEB. 18

Mess at the park – Several trash cans were overturned and garbage was strewn about at Dracena Park.

Branch fell – A large branch fell from a tree in the 500 block of Hampton Road. Public Works Department staff coped.

Noise complaint – A neighbor reported that a group of teenagers were making considerable noise on King Avenue shortly after 10 p.m. The teens quieted down and left.

SUNDAY, FEB. 19

Graffiti – A caller reported graffiti on a utility box near the corner of Highland and Oakland avenues.

Mystery critter – A caller reported that a tall four-legged animal with a stripe on its nose ran past the Piedmont High gym about 11:15 p.m.

Suspicious circumstances – A Woodland Way resident reported a possible "peeping Tom" at 11:22 p.m.