Dear PoP – Lots of Home Breakins Lately in Columbia Heights and Mt. Pleasant

Photo by PoPville flickr user henriksenv

“Dear PoP,

So, a friend of mine who lives on Monroe St btw 14th and 16th had his basement apartment broken into today and had his laptop stolen. Someone had unsuccessfully attempted to break in about 2 months ago, so his landlord (upstairs) put in a new steel frame door and an alarm system. Clearly this did not work. I also heard from my neighbor (on 14th btw Shepherd and Taylor) that there had been another basement break-in on our block about a month ago.

Is this occurring all over the MtP/Columbia Heights area? Have others seen a rash of break-ins, or even in particular basement break-ins?”

Unfortunately another reader writes:

“My home was burglarized last night in Mt Pleasant. Burglars entered while we were home from window 10+ feet from the ground.

Items stolen include:

Olive/Grey backpack with the logo “NICE” on the back

1. Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop
2. Dell 6100 laptop
3. Two Motorolla Cliq cell phones
4. One Nokia 6350 cell phone
5. Kenneth Cole wallet with cards and money

If you hear about anyone trying to fence the laptops or the cell phones please let me know.”