'BMX bandits' unleash daytime crime wave on Eugene
EUGENE, Ore. - Burglars with bicycles and backpacks have unleashed a new crime wave in Eugene, spending workdays cruising neighborhoods looking for unoccupied - even unlocked - homes.
These new mobile crooks are stealing whatever they can cram into a backpack, then getting away from the scene on BMX bikes.
Police have dubbed the crimes "knock and go around burglaries."
Community Service Officer Debbie Janecek was in north Eugene on Thursday spreading the word.
The crimes are "specifically daytime burglaries, so we wanted to get that on your radar and let you be aware," Janecek told a local insurance office clerk.
Home break-ins in Eugene are not new. What's new is how the crooks are getting around.
"Most witnesses have described them as B-M-X style bicycles," Sgt. Lisa Barrong said, "and most of the teams have actually been a male-female mix."
Police have been tracking the trend for the last 6 weeks.
"They are going in and stealing small items of high dollar value," Barrong said. "So small electronics, laptops."
Plus video games, jewelry and whatever else fits into a backpack.
Barrong told KVAL News that jewelry thefts have seen the biggest increase in recent weeks.
The modus operandi for the thieves works like this:
They go to a house, knock on the front door, and if no one answers, they assume no one is home.
They "go around" to the side or the back of the same house to look for a point of entry.
Sgt. Barrong said at least 3 pairs of burglars have been identified (or arrested), and recent victims caught them in the act.
"In 2 cases the victims came home; they were gone part of the day," Barrong said. "When they came home they actually caught females on their property."
To catch more burglars, police urge residents to call 911 with their tips. If they don't, Barrong said, "very likely those criminals are going to go ahead and hit another house in that neighborhood."
Barrong said Eugene PD has made arrests but because it's a property crime, plus the limited space in the Lane County Jail, those people were given an early release and they're back on the streets.
I am jealous .. I just read two crime stories from your area and let me tell you, Your crimes are far more interesting than our crimes in Sacramento.Â
Even though the County can't come up with enough money to staff the jails, at least they can always come up with enough money to keep the taxpayers paying for defense attorneys to limit the amount of time anyone convicted is kept in jail.   It's good to be a taxpayer!   Â
Maybe reconsider the "BMX Bandits" title? Â Gives the honest kids involved in the actual sport of BMX a bad image. Â Bicycle bandits works just as well. Â
 @Nick Since when is having less specific information a good thing? =/ Especially when it comes to looking out for criminals.
Homeless tweakers in the the Whiteaker are always riding around on BMX bikes. Often females who are being pimped out to crackheads.Â
I am going to get my gun permit.
You don't need a permit to own a gun..just to conceal your gun. Oregon is a open carry state, but there are laws for that also...if you don't know the laws about gun ownership...then you had better learn them befor you go to jail for something you thought was right.
As much as I would like to blow big wholes into punks who steal from me, I know that I have to prove in court that my life was in danger. So if you do catch these jerks in the act, and you accidentally blow a big whole in some of them...it is a good time to keep your mouth shut, call a lawyer, don't give a statement...until your lawyer is with you...the main thing is keep your mouth shut! The cops are gonna walk all over you and you will be the one in jail.
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Prepare your homes, get you valuables into a secure place..safes work if they are big and bolted to the floor...hidden compartments are fun to have and work if they don't find them...good locks on your doors, and windows..call ADT...it only costs a few hundred bucks for an alarm system...at least get an ADT sign for the front yard so they think you have an alarm system. You will never keep the bastards out of your home...you can only minimize the time they are in your home..get a good guard dog too. I bought a security camera system off EBAY for 150.00 dollars and it works fine..besides the bad guys see them and don't want to be on camera. I can even view it from any computer/smart phone anywhere on earth with internet.
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The police don't really give a crap if your home has been invaded, they don't have the time for you..call them up and they will likely send you a form to fill out so they don't have to do their job. It is becoming anarchy, and it is getting worse.The trick is to guard your stuff, protect your family and don't kill the bad guys because that makes the GOV mad because they can't use him for more tax dollars.
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 @PEANUT The police have no responsibility to protect individuals or individual property...the police are to protect "society at large".....YOU are responsible for protecting yourself, your family and your property...there are 3 reasons police take reports: 1. to determine the elements of a crime and to possibly provide for followup investigation. 2. For statistical information, and 3. to provide you with proof that you reported a crime for your insurance purposes...that's it! Taking a report is usually dictated by department policy, based on staffing limitations...which has nothing at all with "they don't have to do their job."Â
@Phil Bronner I disagree with you. Police do have a responsibility to protect you, They also have a responsibilty to catch the perp...that is part of protecting society at large.I am ultimately responsible for protecting myself in the end.I don't wait for the police to come and protect me..I was trying to explain that if you are not in fear of your life, you had best not blast the bad guy ... even if he is in your home... and if you do..keep you effing mouth shut!
@PEANUT I can think of a couple times within the past few years when homeowners (or just those living there) have used deadly physical force against intruders and it has been just fine. While I do think Oregon needs a much stronger Castle Doctrine, you're still not likely to be in trouble for shooting a burglar.Â
  161.219 Notwithstanding the provisions of ORS 161.209, a person is not justified in using deadly physical force upon another person unless the person reasonably believes that the other person is:Â
      (1) Committing or attempting to commit a felony involving the use or threatened imminent use of physical force against a person; orÂ
      (2) Committing or attempting to commit a burglary in a dwelling; orÂ
      (3) Using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force against a person.
@PleaseBeSmart You can use all those ORS's you want..but I know what I know..and if you blast somebody either in your home or in your car..you had best keep your mouth shut,the cops don't like it when citizens have guns and are ready to use them. They want to be the only ones with guns.Deadly force can only be used if you fear for your life..proving that can and usually does cost you a bankroll...so blast away..kill some tweeker who just wants a fix..I don't care.
 @PEANUT Are you honestly suggesting that the police, DA, and Oregon courts will arrest, prosecute, and convict someone in complete contradiction of the law? =/ Because that's just nonsense, and history doesn't back it up.
Call 911? SHOOT THEM. Then call 911.
 @PleaseBeSmart Come on, over a few trinkets that are covered under a homeowners insurance policy? I'm sure my tiger pit trap is sufficient and they need to get past the moat filled with electric eels. Plus, the land mines and industrial lasers should be an adequate deterrent. Guns seem just a tad overkill.  Â
 @Nogod I don't care if they're only there to steal a pack of gum. =/ Entering my home without permission with the intent to commit a crime is a death sentence*, should I catch you. End of story.Â
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*unless you somehow survive the several rounds of Gold Dot .45 mJHP I'm going to put in your vital organs. :)
 @Nogod  @PleaseBeSmart If you shoot them while they are in your house...you're covered....if you have boobytrapped your house, however....you are in serious trouble and on YOUR way to a state or federal pen!!
What good is a police force without a jail? Eugene is going down hill...unless you put these people in jail they will just keep doing it! Lame, Lame, Lame, Eugene...
It keeps the tax dollar feeding the police, if they lock them all up then the police and politicians would be out of a job.
 @PEANUT Hey..you don't want police? You want anarchy? Then ensure you elect politicians to eliminate police departments...and good luck with that!  Also, you can't "Lock them all up"....as there are more than enough dirtbags to go around, and more entering the "criminal job market" every day....it's never ending...it's what we called in the military a "target rich environment"....there's always going to be some scrote wanting to take from someone else....hey...wait...that sounds like the gubmint!!!!
@Phil Bronner Did I say anything about wanting Anarchy..I said it was becoming Anarchy...The police department is selfserving, just like politicians, corrupted to the core..not all cops are bad..it's the corrupt system that's bad..violent crime up 19%...Chicago kills more people than Afganistan..what a joke..take away the guns of the people and let the criminals run around shooting everybody...where's the sanity in that? I shoot back..I am armed. I just know the cops want control of the situation when they arrive..I don't blame them..doesn't mean I like it though.
Why not show mugshots of the ones who were arrested and released?
Vote Yes on 80 and lets make room in the rail for these guys.
 @SkinnersGhost I wish that would help. But at least here in Eugene... that's not why we don't have jail space.
jail