Burglaries in Arizona | 2000lb Safe, Cell Phones, and Gangs

Burglaries are much easier to perpetrate than they are to solve once the crime occurs undetected. Law enforcement officials believe that Arizonians lose approximately $2700 with every break-in, which adds up to a yearly total of around $12 million.

Tuscon area police have a thief in their sights, and substantial evidence connecting him to the crimes, but have been unable to capture Thomas Domagala, apparently targeting homes from the Tuscon mountains to the northeastern part of the city.

Residents are getting wise to Domagala and the potential for burglaries throughout the region by installing security systems, making sure doors and windows are secured, and forming neighborhood watch groups to keep an eye on their communities.

The suspect apparently enters homes that appear unoccupied at all times of night and day, using unforced entry techniques if possible, but also forcing entry if the coast is clear. He has stolen money and jewelry as well as vehicles and home furnishings. Police suspect a connection with methamphetamine criminals in the Tuscon area.

Elsewhere in Tuscon, law enforcement detectives have worked for over a year to gain indictments against fourteen individuals connected with one hundred and four theft related crimes. Tuscon’s west side was first hit with a home invasion that occurred while the property owner was vacationing and the home unoccupied. A two thousand pound safe was stolen containing over $500,000 in valuables in this targeted crime. While some stolen items have been located, many remain missing.

Fourteen homes in the Mitchell Park area of Tempe were burglarized last year in a series of late night robberies in which the perpetrator walked away with cell phones, cash, and jewelry. Residents turned to neighborhood watches as well as police to help keep their neighborhoods safe, adopting a prudent policy of keeping homes secured whether residents are on site or not, and installing security systems to alert authorities should a break in occur.

Gang affiliated robberies occurring in Mesa led to a wild police chase and the utilization of a police helicopter to track down the three person robbery crew, including an underage male and female. The thieves were discovered inside a home when property owners returned to the home. The suspects were armed, and a door had been kicked in to gain access to the property on Quartz street.

Far away from Tempe and Tuscon’s urban and suburban communities, the mountain ringed community of Prescott had its own rash of burglaries that included the theft of a golf cart, quad vehicle, and other recreational properties. While an extended search has led to the arrest of several subjects for a crime spree against homes in Crown King and Black Canyon City, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office is still seeking other suspects in the series of robberies.

And in Oconto County, the sheriff’s department reported a rash of burglaries along the state highways to businesses and near by residences. Law enforcement officials in the area

caught up to four perpetrators, but cash and merchandise stolen has not been fully recovered. The sheriff’s department recommends that businesses and homes should keep properties well lit at night, and doors, windows, and garages secured.

Daytime home burglaries in the area unrelated to this group of thieves are targeting cash and firearms from homes. Similar items were taken in a string of home invasions in the

Coconino County area of Davenport Lake in Williams, Arizona. All terrain vehicles were also stolen in this case.

In each of these burglary cases, thieves or groups of thieves targeted homes that appeared to be unoccupied or easy targets. Residents with security systems, motion sensor lighting systems, and who made sure their properties appeared occupied, were less likely to be targeted. The importance of keeping homes secure to discourage home invasion and robbery has never been greater as shown by these recent robbery incidents throughout the state.

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