Man Comes Home to Find Front Door Ripped Off Hinges

JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. — Burglars have broken into eleven homes in unincorporated areas of Johnson County, burglarizing their victims during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Police say the burglars seem to follow the same pattern. They break in during the hours when many people are at work. They knock on the front door to see if someone is home. If the resident answers the door, the burglar will explain that he is lost and needs directions to the interstate; or explain that he is looking for someone who supposedly lives close by.

Another story the burglar gives is that he is looking for a house to rent, a pasture to rent, or scrap metal to clean up.

If no one is at home, the suspect forces the door open.

“It’s almost like they were watching,” said Lloyd Anderson, one of almost a dozen burglary victims. He and his wife were gone for only two hours and came home to find their steel front door off its hinges and their home ransacked.

“They got in. They took a tv. They took all my parents jewelry that passed away. They trashed the house. They were in all the rooms. They opened drawers,” Anderson said.

Four burglaries have occurred in the area of 215th Street from Spring Hill to Edgerton. Two were reported in the area just south of De Soto in the past two weeks.

“My sons have told me to get a big dog. That will work better than anything. I don’t know. It’s just aggravating,” said Anderson.

The Andersons say they have been burglarized seven times in the past 25 years and are considering moving.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 913-715-5560 or go online to www.jocosheriff.org and click on Report a Crime.