This list of crimes was compiled from censored police reports and written by Lydia Sprague.
Bathroom break-in
Between 6 p.m. on July 12 and 5 p.m. on July 15, somebody broke into an apartment complex in the 1200 block of Taylor Avenue North, entered a storage room and defecated in a garbage can.
Nothing was stolen, and no other rooms were entered or disturbed.
Hero dog
On July 18 at 9 a.m., police responded to a home in the 1000 block of Fifth Avenue West to investigate an attempted burglary that occurred the previous day. The homeowner says her dog may have scared away the would-be burglar.
The victim said she left at 6 p.m. When she returned at 8 p.m., she noticed pry marks on the front door and frame around the deadbolt. There were wood splinters on the front porch in front of the front door.
The lock still worked when the victim tried to lock it.
The victim said she first noticed the dog was uncharacteristically excited when she came home, then she noticed scratch marks on the inside of the front door. She said the dog probably started pawing and scratching the front door, scaring the burglar away.
Garage burglar
On July 25 at 9:42 a.m., police responded to a reported burglary that had happened before 6 a.m. in the 300 block of West Prospect Street.
The homeowner said the garage door was closed at 9:30 p.m. When he went to the garage around 6 a.m., he discovered that the garage door was open and that items had been taken from the car inside the garage.
A light fixture was missing from the back seat of the car, and an espresso machine was taken from a shelf inside the garage.
There were no signs of forced entry, and the garage door was working properly.
Police located some partial prints along the windowsill of the car. Officers attempted to lift the prints but were unsuccessful.
Door wide open
Residents returned to their home in the 1800 block of Fifth Avenue West at 11:30 p.m. on July 19 to find it had been ransacked. They said left the rear door open but had closed the sliding screen door.
When they returned, they found the back screen had been slid open.
They checked the home and found a burglar had stolen two new laptops computers and an iPad.
Underwear thief
On July 22 at 11:35 p.m., police responded to a reported burglary at a home in the 2500 block of Eight Avenue West.
The victim said she’d gone away for the weekend with her family.
She returned to find the back door open; she was certain that the door was locked when she left. She looked around the house and noticed some things were out of place.
Among the items missing from the house were two pairs of underwear. She noticed this because the dresser drawers in her bedroom were open.
Her bank checkbook and a men’s belt was also taken.
Nothing was taken from two small jewelry boxes.
Bike burglar
A man living in the 1100 block of Fourth Avenue North called 911 after discovering that two road bikes and a bike stand were stolen from his garage on July 31.
The man said the bikes were stolen after 6 p.m. the previous day.
There were no signs of forced entry; the victim told police he might have left the garage door unlocked during the night. Nothing else in the garage was taken or disturbed.
Missing tools
On July 30, police were dispatched to a house on West Lynn Street to investigate a reported burglary.
The victim said she went to her garage to get a drill at 5:30 p.m. and noticed that the drill and the charger were missing. Then she noticed that her husband’s toolbox was also gone.
After looking around, she noticed that a reciprocating saws and a tile saw were gone, too.
She said she looked to see where anyone could have broken in but was unable to locate an entry point.
The victim also noted that they’ve been having some work done on the house, so a key-box combination were given to the contractor, plumber and electrician.
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