JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office continues to investigate a string of burglaries to homes in Ortega involving the theft of jewelry and prescription drugs.
The neighborhood is not accustomed to crime, and neighbors said they have an informal neighborhood watch that is quickly becoming a lot more organized.
The crimes are similar and the houses hit are close by one another in Ortega, according to police.
Leighton Tesche sends out neighborhood emails and lately they've been filled with alerts that someone is breaking into homes to steal jewelry and sometimes prescription drugs.
"I think it's somebody on foot," Tesche said. "Usually either (with) a backpack or just something (like) pockets because they're not taking big stuff. I think it's probably one person."
Tesche said between five and six homes that she knows of have been hit, including her son's home. She said blood has been left behind at a few scenes where apparently the burglar was cut on some glass. She hopes it's enough for police to identify the burglar.
"They broke the back door, which was a glass door. The frame around it shattered and (they) cut themselves going in the door," Tesche said. "That's the second time the burglars have cut themselves."
Her neighbor, Tiffany Wheeler, said she's stunned that these break-ins are happening during daylight hours.
"The neighbors have been talking about it," Wheeler said. "Makes you kind of nervous to leave your house during the day."
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said detectives are looking for any evidence that ties the crimes together and could be questioning anyone who lives in the area who has a criminal record. He said it's imperative the locals keep an eye on anyone suspicious in the neighborhood.
"It'll be good if they're in a vehicle to look, get a description, get their tag number and yes, contact police and maybe they can come out there and question the person, find out what they're doing," Smith said.
Anyone with information about the Ortega burglaries is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.