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COLERAIN TWP. � Perhaps a sense of security can return to places like 
Snowflake Lane, where a spate of 85 residential burglaries began months 
ago � and ended this week, police say.

A trio of black  teens who live on or near that street started breaking 
into dozens of their neighbors� homes, became emboldened by their success 
and branched out elsewhere, police Lt. Mark Denney said Thursday.

Police say that the three teens, by themselves, may be responsible for 
three-fourths of the burglaries reported this year in Colerain Township, a 
West Side community of 58,000. Officers estimated the boys got away with 
loot worth $2,000 to $3,000 from each break-in.

The boys, ages 15, 16, and 17, were arrested around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday 
with the help of two witnesses on the street where it all started: 
Snowflake Lane.

A resident was home when the burglars apparently expected to find it 
unoccupied. She startled the trio after she heard the sound of glass being 
smashed. Also, a Duke Energy worker spotted the boys at the attempted 
burglary scene from his perch atop a nearby utility pole, Denney said.

Police had already suspected the three teens were to blame for a surge of 
home break-ins, and the department�s Special Investigative Unit had the 
teens under surveillance, Denney said. As of Thursday, Colerain had 
recorded 114 burglaries for this year, an 18-percent increase compared to 
the 96 burglaries tallied during the same period last year.

Denney said the suspects would break into a rear door sometime between 9 
a.m. and 4 p.m., while most people were at work. Then they�d slip inside 
and grab the most expensive things they could find, such as electronics. 
In one case, guns were taken, increasing police concerns.

The teens told investigators that they immediately sold all the property 
or gave it to others to take to pawn shops for money, Denney said. They 
were mum on what they had done with the money from the stolen goods.

So far, investigators have directly linked the teens to 30 burglaries, 
Denney said, but the investigation is continuing.

Burglaries are often overshadowed by crimes that leave people with 
physical injuries, but burglaries still exact a powerful toll on victims, 
Denney said, leaving them feeling uneasy in their own homes.

�Everything that you value has been looked at or touched by a stranger,� 
he said. �It breeds a fear � and changes the way they live, the way they 
look at their neighborhood.�

Denney knows what that�s like from personal experience. �It happened to my 
family when I was 3,� he said.

Then living in Colerain Township, Denney and his parents found the door to 
their home had been kicked in. He still remembers the looks on their 
faces. �It had an impact on me,� he said.

But his family felt better after the burglar was caught; he hopes victims 
of the recent burglaries can also take some consolation knowing that the 
teen suspects are in custody.

They were being held in the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center but 
likely would be released to their parents while awaiting court action, 
Denney said.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20120712/NEWS/307120128/


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