KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Waldo and Brookside neighborhoods in Kansas City have been plagued by nearly a dozen home break-ins over the past month, according to online crime reports.
Police said the latest happened early Friday morning at a house near W. 72nd and Main Streets and ended in an arrest.
Daniel Woodard and his girlfriend, Kristen Connelly, were fast asleep at 2:30 a.m. when they were awakened.
“We start hearing this thumping noise,” Woodard said. “It sounds like a hand on glass.”
Their dogs started barking and then they heard shattering glass.
“I yell out, ‘I’m calling the cops!'” Woodard said.
Connelly quickly hit their security system’s alarm – a sound that sent the burglar running down the street.
“It was just really terrifying,” she said. “Being a woman and had [Woodard] not been here, who knows what would’ve happened.”
Woodard said he ran after the robber and Connelly got close enough to get a good description of what he looked like – something that helped responding officers arrest him minutes later just down the street.
“I think the scariest part is what if we wouldn’t have woken up and they had actually entered the home?” Connelly pondered.
It was the second home break-in in just weeks for the couple, as a similar scenario happened in early August while they were away on vacation. They’re convinced the same man whom police arrested is responsible for both.
“This individual was highly intoxicated, who tried to break in last night, thinking he could do it again knowing we were here,” Woodard said. “I don’t understand why, but he thought it would be an easy target.”
Online crime reports show theirs is just one of a dozen home break-ins in the Waldo and Brookside neighborhoods this past month. It’s a trend the couple wants to curb by sticking together as a community.
“If you’re going out of town, making your neighbors aware,” Connelly suggested. “We can do things to prevent this from happening.”
The man police arrested Friday morning has not yet been charged with the crime.
As for your own safety, officers said loud alarm systems, good lighting and making sure doors and windows are locked are the best way to protect yourself.
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