Michael Bushnell
Northeast News

Two overnight burglaries in the Scarritt Renaissance neighborhood have neighbors on edge yet again. Early this morning a homeless man was found inside St. Anthony’s church; meanwhile, a Gladstone Boulevard resident is meeting with police after a burglary at their home early this morning.

The pattern is all too familiar for some in the area who were victims of serial burglar Robert L. Brown between 2014 and his arrest in 2015. Brown remains a ward of the Bureau of Prisons serving a 12-year sentence.

Residents were updated by neighborhood association leaders earlier this week about two residential burglaries along the Kansas City Museum corridor. In one of the incidents, robbers were brazen enough to attempt entry while the homeowner was at home. The second burglary occurred during the overnight hours and the homeowners were not at home at the time of the break in. Then on Tuesday, April 17th, neighborhood leaders sent out a second notice notifying the community of two additional burglaries along the same corridor. One of the homes was empty and in the other case, homeowners scared off the thieves. Police noted that some of the stolen property was located in Kessler Park which is helping detectives in the investigation.

Police are also offering free CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) inspections for residents to help them evaluate the exterior of their home from a potential burglar’s standpoint.

Captain Ryan Mills with KCPD has expressed frustration with the upward trend.

“Our crime analysts at East Patrol are working directly with Central Patrol’s analysts to determine if there’s a pattern to the break-ins,” said Mills, noting that police are also investigating residential burglaries in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood.

In response, neighborhood association leaders are encouraging residents to get involved with their block watch programs. Scarritt Block Watch coordinator Heather Welch stresses the successes their neighborhood has had in real-time tracking and identifying suspects.

“Call 911 if you see anything out of the ordinary,” said Welch.

For now, however, neighbors are advised to be vigilant and notify authorities of anything unusual or suspicious.

“We’re on this big-time,” said Mills. “These guys will make a mistake, and when they do, we’ll be there.”