Hospital hill home burglarized while women slept

LACONIA — Police continue to investigate the burglary of an occupied home on Warren Street early Sunday morning.

According to one of the women who lives in the house, someone entered the home likely between 2 and 3:30 a.m.

"He came into my bedroom and tool my jewelry box," she said.

She said the intruder also entered her mother's room. She said fortunately her elderly mother sleeps in a different portion of the home and was not in her bedroom.

The older woman, who has asked her name to not be revealed, said her daughter was sleeping in a different portion of the home and thought she heard something.

"My daughter works early and typically rises at 4 a.m. I think she was already in that state where she was getting ready to wake up," she said.

The woman said her daughter rose and turned on an outside light and saw what she thought was a shadow running near the home. She woke her mother.

The victim said she found her jewelry box thrown in the backyard with some of her things still in it. She said most of the things stolen weren't very valuable.

She said she and her daughter discovered a jewelry box had been taken from her bedroom but decided to wait until morning to notify police so as not to upset her elderly mother in the middle of the night.

"We were okay and it was just stuff," she said. She notified Laconia Police just after 8 a.m.

"I wish I had called the police right away," she said, noting that had police known immediately, there were things they could of done like bring in a K-9 and additional officers perhaps catching the person or persons responsible.

The victim also recounted that others in the neighborhood have reported burglaries in their home — including one person on Emerald Drive who was not home. She said the person or people made an unsuccessful attempt to get into a safe in the victim's home.

The Daily Sun has been unable to verify the Emerald Drive incident with city police.

The woman also said her neighbors have been talking about other burglaries in the neighborhood but, to her knowledge, this is the first time a home was targeted where there were obviously people inside sleeping.

About 10 days ago, police confirmed a home on Lafayette Street was burglarized while the homeowner was away.

The weekend burglary of an occupied home brings back memories of the bedtime burglars — Joshua Shepard and Spencer Mullarkey — who are both in jail and, as part of their plea arrangement, admitted to police to burglarizing 51 homes in Laconia, Belmont, Gilford and Sanbornton last summer.

The two were caught when city Police Officer Brandy Enis recognized Shepard, knew there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest on an unrelated matter, and pulled him over in a traffic stop. She noticed what appeared to be burglary tools in his car.

Police Capt. Matt Canfield said yesterday that there have been a number of burglaries in the city but this is the first time this summer that a home has been targeted while people were in it.

He also said some of the burglaries have been in the Pine Hill section of the city but said others have occurred in different neighborhoods.

He encouraged people to lock their doors and windows at night and, if possible, to leave an outside light on.

He said people are encouraged to report any suspicious behavior in and around their neighborhoods.

"Please don't think you're bothering us," Canfield said. "This is what we do and every little bit of information helps us."

Anyone with any information about this weekend's burglary or any other crime is encouraged to call Laconia Police at 524-5252 or the anonymous Greater Laconia Police Crime Line at 524-1717.