SHOREWOOD -- It's happened again. A thief has targeted another home in Shorewood in the middle of the night.
This is the third break-in in a matter of weeks.
The intruder hit a home at 3 a.m. Wednesday near Shorewood Boulevard and Frederick Avenue. Police said the suspect entered through an unlocked window on the first floor. Police say some property was taken.
Just last month, two homes in the same area were hit back-to-back.
The first one was at 1:30 a.m. on July 23 at a home near Shorewood Boulevard and Downer Avenue. In that case, the resident said they were woken up by a noise and saw someone with a flashlight outside. Police said the resident yelled at the suspect and scared them off. The resident later discovered that a storm window was removed from a basement window and a dryer vent had also been removed.
The second one was at 4:30 a.m. on July 25 at a home near Menlo Boulevard and Oakland Avenue. Police said a resident woke to find the intruder inside with a flashlight. They were able to scare them off. Police said the suspect entered through an unlocked window.
''We're a community next to a big city, so we have incidents like a big city. I wouldn't call it a string at this point," said Detective Gary Lenda with the Shorewood Police Department.
Audrey Demuck has lived in the area for more than 40 years. She said she didn't know about the latest break-in.
"I knew about the earlier two, which was about a week or two ago," she said.
She now said she's more vigilant about locking her doors. She started taking notice about a year ago when a stranger walked into her unlocked door early in the morning.
"Someone walked right in our back door. The dogs were right near me by the back door. The dogs were barking like crazy," DeMuck said.
The intruder walked away but Audrey said she always locks her doors now.
Police said she's doing the right thing but she could be doing more.
"Also make sure your doors are locked on your vehicle. A lot of people have their garage doors openers in their vehicle. You need to make sure its locked so people don't have access to that.," Lenda said.
In all three overnight crimes, the intruders got away. Nobody was hurt but police are warning people in the area to lock their windows and doors.
