LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga -- Residents of a Gwinnett County neighborhood are living on the edge of panic after two more of their neighbor's homes were broken into.
People in the Chandler Park on the River subdivision feel like they are being picked on and they don't feel safe in their own homes. Gwinnett County Police confirm 13 homes have been broken into since October 2014.
"In almost every case they're going to the back of the house and either forcing entry through a window or a door," said Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Jake Smith.
Annette Kemper said burglars pushed her basement window in to get inside her home last Monday. She left her home for three hours and came back to find it ransacked. Electronics, video games and jewelry were missing.
She has since put in an alarm system. "Even though I have an alarm system now, every time I walk in, like every time I hear a noise, oh, gosh, is there somebody in my house? Is there somebody outside my house? Is there somebody watching me?" she said.
It has changed the lives of 12 of her neighbors too. Thirteen homes have been broken into in the past three-and-a-half months in their subdivision. Every one of them tells the same story.
Police say the burglaries are happening at odd times when residents leave their homes for a few hours. "The very narrow time frames that the suspects are committing these cases in, indicates it's likely somebody that's right around there and is able to watch covertly," Cpl. Smith said.
Kamper thinks someone was watching her because she's usually home at the time the burglars broke in. "So it's kind of odd that the one day, one Monday out of every Monday of the year that I'm not here, my house got broken into," she said.
The break-ins are causing apprehension throughout the neighborhood for residents who fear they might be next. For the 13 victims, they have lost their sense of home. "They took our sense of security in the home," Kamper said. "My children are obviously scared to be here. They're scared to come home if we're not here."
Gwinnett County Police believe it's probably kids who either live in the subdivision or nearby. Without elaborating, Cpl. Smith said detectives have good leads in the case.
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