Published 2008-02-03T00:00:00Z”/>

Evan Burt

Junior Alisha Miller came back from break to her home on Ivy Street to find that people had broken in and taken two DVD players, an XBOX and a few candles.

“I saw the broken glass, and the door was open,” Miller said. “I started crying and called my friends and asked them to come over.”

Police filed a report but were unable to look into her case extensively because of the increased number of burglaries, Miller said.

About 150 home robberies have been reported in Chico since late November as of Jan. 21. That number was expected to increase as students returned from winter break, said Sgt. Dave Barrow of the Chico Police Department.

So far the burglaries have occurred east and west of the Esplanade on Oleander, Laburnum, Palm and Magnolia avenues and in other areas surrounding the university, he said.

Burglars kicked doors open and smashed windows to get into homes, Barrow said.

Flatscreen TVs, video game systems and computers are among the items taken, which has led police to suspect some of the robberies were committed by the same people. But not all of them are related.

“You can have two or three people doing some, another two doing some and one person doing another,” he said. “It’s more than one group of people.”

Senior Nina Sanchez reported a burglary when her home on Chestnut Street was broken into after the Jan. 4 storm caused a power outage.

Burglars entered through an unlocked window and took a laptop computer, she said.

Although police checked for prints and have stayed in touch, none of her property has been recovered, Sanchez said.

Miller’s stolen property hasn’t been recovered either. She also has to pay for repairs and replacement of her belongings, she said.

The burglary left her worried about another break in.

“I’m paranoid about leaving my door unlocked,” she said.

Recovering stolen property has been a problem, especially because many of the items don’t have serial numbers or other identifying characteristics, said Sgt. Matt Hansen of University Police.

“(Serial numbers) are rarely recorded by the owners and, therefore, are not entered into the system,” Hansen said. “We have a hard time getting to them if they don’t record the serial numbers.”

Although stolen property is unlikely to be recovered quickly, the burglars could be caught when they try to pawn off stolen goods, Barrow said.

Wayne Wade, a communication design lecturer, has heard about home robberies that seem related around his neighborhood since November. Several houses on the same block have had doors kicked in and electronics taken, he said.

It’s hard to prevent theft when people are kicking down doors, but people can protect their homes, Wade said. Students have been told to protect their homes and should know better.

“It seems like they should be aware of when they go home on break not to leave anything of value behind,” he said. “They’re sitting ducks.”

Anyone with information on the robberies should contact the Chico Police Department at 897-4911.

Evan Burt can be reached at <a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>