Chaska police responded to reports of seven residential burglaries during the early morning hours of Feb. 14, the police department said in a statement.
The burglaries took place in the Clover Ridge area, Liberty Heights area, and the area surrounding Hundertmark and Bavaria roads. In many of the cases, the suspects found garage door openers in vehicles that were left unlocked in people’s front driveways. In other cases, they were able to gain entry through “unlocked exterior garage service doors.”
Police said they are actively investigating the burglaries and asked residents to check their surveillance cameras for videos of suspicious persons. Police also plan to increase their patrol presence in the targeted neighborhoods.
The police department advised residents to start following the “9 p.m. routine,” which includes:
- Locking cars, house doors, windows, garages, gates, and sheds. This should include garage service doors that lead into homes.
- Removing garage door openers from vehicles that must be left outside. Park vehicles inside whenever possible.
- Turning on exterior lights, security cameras, and alarm systems.
- Bringing in valuables from cars, yards, and patios.
Orono was hit with a similar rash of burglaries earlier this month. The city, one of the wealthiest in the state, experienced “six occupied residential burglaries and a handful of theft from auto reports” in one night.
“This means while you were sleeping people were creeping through six homes,” the police department said.
