OVIEDO, Fla. – Residents in an Oviedo neighborhood are on alert after a series of recent home burglaries.
Oviedo police tell Local 6 there has been a recent increase in the number of residential burglaries with dozens of crimes occurring in the last few months, primarily during the day when no one is home.
Lori Skipper's Oviedo home was broken into on June 18 during the middle of the day. She never thought her home would be targeted, since it's located at the entrance to her subdivision and near heavily traveled streets at the corner of Lockwood Boulevard and Pinehurst Court.
"These people don't care if they get caught," said Skipper. "They had no idea that I might not come around the corner within 10 minutes or five minutes that particular day."
Skipper said the thieves took her pillow case off her bed and stuffed it with whatever they could find: her grandmother's jewelry, Social Security cards, passports, laptops, a coin collection and more.
Skipper said they didn't take everything, including their flat screen televisions, but what they did take turned her life upside down.
"We, as normal citizens who work and try to play by the rules, are dealing with an element that does not play by the rules and is not afraid to go to jail for a crime," said Skipper.
Police said it's becoming a growing problem, not just in Oviedo, but across Central Florida. If the thief is ever caught, they're usually back on the streets and victimizing more people in a matter of months.
As for Skipper, her front door is now reinforced with several screws, her home has a new security system and her neighbors have a new sense of awareness.
"We weren't as tight of a neighborhood as we should have been, or ever felt the need to be, and now at least people are being on top of it," said Skipper.