Garda warning over ‘brazen’ criminals

Gardaí in East Clare have issued an appeal for information and vigilance following three separate burglaries, perpetrated by “brazen” criminals over the weekend.

 

Last Saturday, houses on Main Street and Bridge Street, in Scariff, and another on Main Street, Mountshannon were broken into, one while it was occupied by an elderly man.

Gardaí believe all three to be linked and are appealing to people in the area to take extra care when answering the door to strangers and to ensure their premises are secure. In one of these instances a cold caller made his way into the house where he was soon joined by two others.

On Saturday, October 27, between 8pm and 9pm, the house of an elderly man on Bridge Street in Scariff was entered by three men. It is understood that one of these men called to the door and engaged the occupant at the front door before he made his way into the house. It is understood that two others also gained access through another door in the house, while the occupant was distracted. The home owner asked these men to leave on several occasions, which they eventually did after having a good search of the property. Although nothing was stolen on this occasion gardaí described what this man went through as “very worrying”.

“It is very worrying development where it shows these people had such a brazen attitude. They also don’t appear to have concealed their identity and they left calmly,” Inspector John O’Sullivan, Killaloe Garda district officer, said.
Meanwhile, earlier that same day, between 6pm and 8pm, the house of an elderly woman was broken into on Main Street in Scariff, where entry was gained through the front door. The occupant was not in the house at the time, but when she returned to the house she noticed that her 19 inch flat screen television and a small amount of cash had been stolen.

A further incident was also recorded on the same date at approximately 8.25pm when a house on Main Street Mountshannon was broken into. This house was unoccupied at the time but the culprits were disturbed by a neighbour and fled the scene empty handed.

“We’ve had a number of incidents with the long dark evenings and coming up to Christmas criminals are more active in the area. People need to be mindful of security and premises. Between our district here and neighbouring districts we have seen an increase in criminal activity, which we have put down to travelling criminals. There are a number of different vehicles circulating and they seem to have become more active in the last three to four weeks,” Inspector O’Sullivan said.

He added that gardaí believe these crimes are connected and were committed by the occupants of a silver Mazda 6 with a 2008 LK registration, which was seen leaving the scene of one of the burglaries.

Anyone who saw a car matching this description or who noticed unusual activity around properties in the Main Street and Bridge Street areas of Scariff, or on Main Street, Mountshannon last Saturday or who can assist the gardaí in any way are asked to call Scariff Gardaí on 061-921002, or Killaloe Gardaí on 061-620540.

“People should be very careful in admitting and answering the door to cold callers and letting anyone into the house. We would ask people generally if they notice suspicious activity in the area in or near a house where they know there are elderly people living to please let us know what’s going on and let us check it out,” Inspector O’Sullivan added.

In light of these recent incidents he also advised that there were a number of cars in the area which had property stolen from them as a result of them not being secured properly. The Inspector advised people to ensure that cars are locked and secured when they are unoccupied so as not give an invitation to criminals and he warned householders to abide by the same general practice, both when the house is occupied and unoccupied.