Police also went door to door talking to neighbors in search of someone who might have seen something. Larry and Ellen Kaufman live next door to one of the victimized families.
"They asked if we had seen anyone and I explained to them that I had been out of town and I had not," Larry Kaufman said. "And my son-in-law who was here earlier hadn't seen anybody either."
"There was one about three years ago, across the way," said Ellen Kaufman. "We had a good guard dog up until September and she would sit in a window and that was a deterrent."
The burglaries all happened in the same general vicinity in Skokie, with only three miles separating the first from the last. And because all five took place in a ten hour time frame between noon and ten p-m yesterday, police believe they may be related.
"I don't know, do we hide all our stuff, do we get an alarm, a dog?" Ellen Kaufman asked. "I don't know."
In fact, an alarm might have made a difference. In Skokie, signs alerting potential burglars of an active security system are common, but Skokie police tell us that in none of the five burglaries was an alarm triggered. Skokie resident Edward Lynn says he had a car stolen out of his garage a few years ago, after possibly leaving the door open.
"It's a quiet neighborhood and backyards are probably a little vulnerable in terms of garden doors and stuff like that," Lynn said.
Skokie police say in this case resident testimony may be one of their best resources. They are asking anyone who sees any suspicious activity or vehicles in the area to report it.
