Suspect Sought In Multiple Old Town Office Burglaries

(Friday) August 20, 2010

By James Cullum
alexandrianews.org

Alexandria Police are looking for the culprit in a number of recent Old Town office burglaries. Police said that 11 of 13 burglaries occurred in the same building on the 300 block of North Washington Street.

On Monday, August 16, three offices in the same building on North Washington Street were burglarized. The suspect or suspects pried open office doors, stole a video camera and a 40-inch high definition television.

There is no alarm system in that building and there is no video or surveillance footage of the suspect. “Whoever did it just went from suite to suite trying to get in. Not much was stolen,” said Ashley Hildebrandt, an Alexandria Police spokesperson. “I’m guessing there weren’t alarms since we were never called.”

Also on the same day, at 9:27 a.m., police were called to an office on North Pitt Street, where a suspect climbed through a window and stole several computers. The Monday thefts were reported at 6:50 a.m., 9:27 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 10:41 a.m.

There were more six more break-ins at the North Washington Street building on August 15, leaving investigators wondering if all of the office thefts occurred at the same time – over the weekend. The suspect stole an antique coin collection from one office, but stole nothing from the other units, which included a dental care office and the Physician Assistant Education Association. The thefts were reported at 8:50 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and noon.

On Thursday, August 12, 2010, an unknown suspect entered a building in the 1400 block of Duke Street and pried several office doors open. The suspect stole a laptop computer and coins.

“We’re looking to see if the incidents are related,” Hildebrandt said. “There isn’t really a trend. We’re thinking that this was a one-time thing, with this guy trying to get into multiple places.

” Just make sure your alarms are up to date, have good lighting, keep your doors locked, and, if businesses want to make themselves safe, one of the officers in our community relations unit can come out and assess your business and tell you what you can do to make it more secure,” Hildebrandt said.